Poor Things (2023) on Netflix
In a retrofuturist Victorian London, Godwin Baxter brings a woman named Bella Baxter to life with an infant's mind. Max McCandles, a medical student, is recruited to record her behavior.
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- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.7/10423,281 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes92%
Trailer
Plot summary
In a retrofuturist Victorian London, the unorthodox scientist Godwin Baxter recruits Max McCandles, a medical student, to record the behavior of Bella Baxter, a nearly mute young woman who lives in his house. Godwin's work gave her body new life with an infant's mind. Her vocabulary grows, and she greets the world with childlike wonder. Encouraged by Godwin, Max comes to want her as his wife, and she agrees. When she discovers sexual pleasure, she leaves for Lisbon with Duncan Wedderburn, a debauched lawyer, and the two spend their time in near-constant intercourse, Bella knowing nothing beyond physical pleasure, and Duncan finds her increasingly hard to control.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Poor Things (2023)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Willem Dafoe spent six hours each day in the hair and makeup department, with four hours of extensive facial prosthetics applied at the start of the day and two more hours to remove them at the end.
- Poor Things became the first feature film to be partially shot on Kodak's 35mm Ektachrome color reversal motion picture film stock since that stock was revived in 2018.
- In preparation for her role, Emma Stone took dance lessons and accidentally dyed her hair black, and director Yorgos Lanthimos liked the contrast between the dark hair and Stone's fair complexion.
- Yorgos Lanthimos said the author Alasdair Gray personally toured him around Glasgow, showing him several places Gray had incorporated into the story.
- Sequences in Alfie Blessington's house were shot at Budapest's Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library, and scenes set at a church in London were filmed at a church on the outskirts of Budapest.
- Pop musician Jerskin Fendrix had not scored a film before; Poor Things was the first film he wrote the music for.
- The film drew scrutiny in Gray's native Scotland over its seeming disregard for the source material and its Scottish roots, with the online documentary channel Ossian presenting a portrayal of the true origins of Poor Things and its Scottish setting.
