Fox Searchlight will be giving the “female Frankenstein” story Poor Things, which stars Emma Stone (Cruella), a theatrical release on September 8th – and director Yorgos Lanthimos says Stone’s character is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before!
Scripted by Tony McNamara and based on a novel by Alasdair Gray (pick up a copy HERE), the film is described as being the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter. Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn, a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.
Stone is joined in the cast by Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home) as Dr. Godwin Baxter and Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers) as Duncan Wedderburn. Ramy Youssef (Ramy), Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show), Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Suzy Bemba (Kandisha), and Christopher Abbott (Possessor) are also in the cast.
Speaking with Empire, Lanthimos said, “It’s all instinct in creating this creature, which is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Sometimes Emma would go, ‘I don’t know what the hell I’m doing – is this any good?’ And sometimes I don’t even know, so we try different things. To be honest, I’m amazed with her. Later on, when I was editing the movie, I would sometimes text her and go, ‘I don’t know how you do this. This is incredible.’ There’s a bit of magic going on.“
Stone added, “Imagine being left to my own devices on Bella! That would have been a disaster. It was very, very much both of us in tandem all the time. And I was able to always rely on him to be a barometer.“
Stone earned an Oscar nomination for her role in Lanthimos’s film The Favourite, and Poor Things brings them back together. In a Vogue interview, Lanthimos revealed that he has been wanting to make Poor Things for several years, going back to the days before his 2015 film The Lobster, and had been talking to Stone about the project since they were working on The Favourite together. Since wrapping on Poor Things, they have already collaborated on another film called And.
When we first heard about Poor Things, all we knew about the story was that it was called a “female Frankenstein” story because after drowning herself to escape her abusive husband, Bella’s brain is replaced by that of her unborn child. We learned more by looking up the description of Gray’s novel, and that description goes along with the full synopsis the film has now. Reviews from readers have indicated that the novel is incredibly weird, and judging by the marketing materials that certainly appears to be an element that Lanthimos has successfully translated to the screen.
Are you looking forward to seeing Emma Stone’s performance in Poor Things? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.