Poor Things

Poor Things follows Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life through an unorthodox experiment. She leaves her creator’s care and sets out with a lawyer, moving through a series of encounters that widen her world and test the limits placed on her. As she travels, the film tracks her growing independence and the force of her own desires. The story builds around transformation, freedom and a refusal to accept the roles others assign her.

Yorgos Lanthimos directs this 2023 film, shaping its strange journey with a mix of comedy, romance and science-fiction. Emma Stone leads the cast as Bella, whose awakening and restless curiosity drive the narrative. Mark Ruffalo appears as the lawyer who accompanies her, while Willem Dafoe plays the scientist behind her return to life. Together, they anchor a tale that shifts between invention, attraction and confrontation.

Set across several countries and grounded in an off-kilter version of reality, the film treats its world as both playful and unsettling. Its tone moves between absurdity and dark invention, while its themes center on autonomy, sexuality and the struggle to define oneself. The result is a vivid, unruly fable that keeps turning from wonder toward discomfort and back again.