Film

Poor Things

Name: Poor Things
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance, Comedy
Released: 2023
Cast: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott

AI and robot sci-fi
Strange

Yorgos Lanthimos's visionary reimagining of *Frankenstein* as a picaresque romance. Emma Stone plays a reanimated woman navigating the world with radical innocence and intelligence. Formally audacious—monochrome cinematography, stilted dialogue, baroque production design—and emotionally genuine. For those who want cinema that moves and surprises in equal measure.

TMDb rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy odd, deadpan comedy with lavish, storybook production design, and a heroine who treats polite society as a rulebook she is free to tear up.

Skip it if you find explicit sexual content and graphic bodily strangeness hard going, or want a brisk pace; at 141 minutes it lingers in its bizarre detours.

What it asks of you: It runs over two and a half hours, with long stretches of wandering episodic travel, and it rewards sitting back rather than checking your phone.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

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Guillermo del Toro's similarly strange love story between two outsiders, wrapped in Cold War intrigue and practical magic. Formally inventive, deeply romantic, absolutely weird in the best way.

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind2004

Charlie Kaufman at his most inventive: a love story that deconstructs memory and identity with genuine tenderness. Surreal but grounded, intellectually daring and heartbreaking in equal measure.

But The non-linear structure can feel deliberately confusing, and there's a melancholy that never lifts.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind poster

Arrival2016

Denis Villeneuve's science-fiction masterpiece about communication, time, and sacrifice. Treats its high concept with philosophical depth while remaining deeply human and moving.

But Slow-burn pacing and heavy ideas might feel abstract rather than gripping if you're looking for plot momentum.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Poor Things

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Barbie2023

Both films use a female protagonist with no prior life experience to interrogate societal expectations. Both pair visual artifice with genuine emotional stakes.

Greta Gerwig takes a disposable product and crafts a formally audacious film about identity, purpose, and the impossibility of perfection. Like *Poor Things*, it's both sincere and formally playful, asking what freedom means.

But The whimsical tone and pastel aesthetics might feel saccharine rather than subversive if you're cynical about the premise.

The Favourite2018

Lanthimos's earlier crowd-pleaser: dark comedy-drama about power and female desire in a royal palace. Visually sumptuous, wickedly funny, and surprisingly moving under all the chaos.

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Annihilation2018

Alex Garland's haunting sci-fi film about a mysterious zone that rewrites biology and logic. Hypnotic atmosphere, genuine dread, and a protagonist quietly grappling with self-annihilation.

But Deliberately obscure and refuses to explain itself. Viewers craving clarity will feel frustrated rather than intrigued.

Crimson Peak2015

Guillermo del Toro's gothic romance with a female lead who drives the narrative. Lavishly designed, earnestly romantic, and unashamed of its melodrama and spectacle.

But Heavy on atmosphere, lighter on plot mechanics. Some find the pacing indulgent.

A Ghost Story2017

David Lowery's meditation on time, love, and legacy. Quietly devastating, formally daring, and surprisingly funny. Treats the supernatural as a vehicle for real emotional truth.

But Minimal plot and an almost static visual style—it's asking you to sit with mood rather than narrative drive.

The Lighthouse2019

Robert Eggers' two-hander between Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson on an isolated island. Hypnotic black-and-white cinematography, baroque dialogue, utterly singular.

But Deliberately abrasive and claustrophobic. The accent-heavy dialogue and grainy visuals are not subtle choices.

Under the Skin2014

Jonathan Glazer's haunting sci-fi film with Scarlett Johansson as an otherworldly being. Minimal dialogue, maximum atmosphere; strange, beautiful, and unsettling in ways that linger.

But Experimental to the point of obscurity. Plot is secondary to mood, and that mood is often alienating.

The Phantom of the Opera2004

Both feature misshapen or artificial beings learning to navigate human connection and desire. Both prioritize atmosphere and romance over plot efficiency.

Joel Schumacher's operatic gothic romance: ornate, melodramatic, and completely committed to its aesthetic. A creature trying to connect with someone who exists outside his world. Pure emotional excess.

But The theatrical excess will feel ridiculous if you're not in the mood for earnest passion and overwrought production design.

Come and See1985

Both use a protagonist's unschooled perspective to interrogate a world's cruelty and systems. Both refuse easy sentiment despite the devastation they depict.

Elem Klimov's devastating World War II film about a young boy's initiation into horror. A radical formal experiment where a innocent encounters a world fundamentally hostile to innocence. Unforgettable.

But Brutal and relentlessly bleak. This is not entertainment—it's an endurance test that asks you to witness atrocity without relief.