Poor Things

A beautiful movie, with beautiful colors, buildings, boats, and beautiful people too, but what is the point of it? What is it saying? I probably missed layers of nuance and meaning, but I see it as the male version of the telling of a woman's Hero’s Journey.

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From the over-protective father to the leaving of home for a life of adventure, from the low period where she debases herself in the quest for sensation to the discovery of self, and the return home to put the final pieces together. Are we supposed to be believe that she triumphs in the end (with an STI or two, and living, as she did, in a time when women were chattel)? Do women really discover who they are through sex?

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I’m not sure how to feel about this movie. [Spoilers] I didn’t understand why they chose to put the brain of a goat into the sadistic ex-husband’s head. Do the women couple up or does she marry the young doctor? Why, in the end, does she treat the newest woman-child like an idiot servant? And why did the telling of the story require so much graphic sex?

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On the plus side, the acting is superb! Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo are excellent. Heck, even the extras were great. The language is absolutely wonderful. I loved the language so much. The scenes, interiors, even the skies were really lovely. The clothing was very carefully chosen, very well done. Everything is candy to the eye.

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But this is not a feminist tale. This is one dude’s surreal telling of how one man’s creation moves from child to moron to whore to monster. Yes, I know Emma Stone is an executive producer on it, but she is young and has said herself that all she really did was shadow the main producer dude to see all the decisions he was making.

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A visually stunning but stupid movie. 3 out of 5 stars only because the production values are super high.