"Poor Things"

A lot of 19th Century books concerned themselves with Education: even “Huckleberry Finn” fits the mold that “Poor Things” occupies, with the only difference being a girl instead of a boy. Jimmy McGill’s BCS rant to shoplifting scholarship student Kristy Esposito comes from “Les Chants du Maldoror,” written in 1869 for a boy rather than a girl. It’s like history repeating itself. I loved that crazy dance in the movie. I loved the fanciful technology. Emma Stone did great. I also thought William DaFoe was great - he loves Bella so unreservedly. Here is an excellent review:

Since Bella needs to have someone monitor her progress as she learns language and motor skills, Godwin asks one of his students, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), to be a companion for her. Godwin has kept Bella shielded from society, but when Bella gets a taste of life outside — Lanthimos has depicted the impact of seclusion from society since his brilliant breakout film, “Dogtooth” — she becomes hungry for adventure. Despite becoming engaged to Max, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a handsome cad, shortly after discovering how to pleasure herself in a rather . . . resourceful way. “Poor Things” takes off at this point in ways that astound and amuse. 

The plot borrows heavily from “Pygmalion,” “Frankenstein” and “Prometheus” among other narratives.

 

 I really like the dance sequence.