Emma Stone is singlehandedly bringing back the (undead) sex comedy.
The Oscar-nominated actress leads Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” as Bella Baxter, a woman who is brought back to life using the brain of her unborn child. Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef play the scientists who reanimate her; Mark Ruffalo has a standout turn as her lawyer-turned-lover, along with ensemble appearances by Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley, and Kathryn Hunter.
“Poor Things” is inspired by Scottish author Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel about a woman who drowns herself to escape her abusive husband. The novel is adapted by “The Favourite” scribe Tony McNamara. Lanthimos and actress Stone have previously collaborated on “The Favourite” and “Bleat,” as well as upcoming film “AND.”
Director Lanthimos addressed audiences at the Venice Film Festival premiere of the film, which went on to win the Golden Lion.
“It was a very intrinsic part of the novel itself, her freedom about everything, including sexuality,” Lanthimos said of Stone’s character Bella. “And secondly, it was very important for me to not make a film which was gonna be prude because that would be completely betraying the main character. We had to be confident and again, like the character, have no shame.”
According to Lanthimos, lead actress Stone “had to have no shame about her body, nudity, engaging in those scenes, and she understood that right away. The great thing about myself and Emma is that now we’ve completed like four films together. There’s a shorthand. As soon as I started saying something like I just said, she said, ‘Yes, of course, I understand, it’s Bella. We’ll do what we need to do.’”
The IndieWire review called the film “hysterically funny and the raunchiest movie you’re likely to see all year.”
The review continues, “‘Poor Things’ is the best film of Lanthimos’ career and already feels like an instant classic, mordantly funny, whimsical and wacky, unprecious and unpretentious, filled with so much to adore that to try and parse it all here feels like a pitiful response to the film’s ambitions.”
“Poor Things” premieres December 8 in theaters from Searchlight Pictures. Check out the new trailer below.
