Poor things had all the Lamthimos ingredients. Eery score with superb use of violin. Unknowing, dead pan hilarity from the main character, Bella Baxter (superbly played Emma Stone). Complete bonkersness (which I love), such as the horse drawn cart with only a horse's head but no body, or the Frankensteinian (copyright Simon Mayo) creation of the 'experimental' hybrid animal (he does love his animal metaphors). Very dark humour where you feel you need to stifle your laughter in the cinema. And other laugh out loud moments. So all the ingredients were right. But for me, not one of Yorgos' finest. Perhaps I was spoilt from the first two films of his that I saw (The Lobster, Killing of a Sacred Deer). The films of his I've seen since then, such as his earlier Dogtooth and Alps and then his subsequent The Favourite have never quite lived up to my expectations. And maybe this too was an anticipointment. As noted, all the ingredients were right, and I did enjoy the film, but I didn't feel the sinister euphoria of some of his other works. But then again, I can see how it is being hailed as a potential awards winner. My go to film critic (Mark Kermode) has seen it 3 times and got more out of it in each subsequent viewing, so maybe I need to watch it again. For now though, not the Lanthimos masterpiece I was hoping for, but maybe my expectations were too high. 7.5 out of ten.
Review of Poor Things
