Remember when we shared the news that Emma Stone (Cruella) had signed on to star in the “female Frankenstein” story Poor Things? It’s understandable if you don’t, since more than two years have passed since that announcement was made – but now Fox Searchlight has Poor Things set for a September 8th theatrical release, and they’ve gotten the marketing machine started by unveiling a trio of images from the film. These images, which feature Stone and co-star Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home), can be seen at the bottom of this article.
Stone earned an Oscar nomination for her role in director Yorgos Lanthimos’s film The Favourite, and Poor Things brings them back together. Lanthimos has directed the film from a screenplay by Tony McNamara, 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 (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), 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, Dafoe, and Ruffalo are joined in the cast by Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, and Christopher Abbott.
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.
I haven’t read the source material, but reader reviews indicate that Gray’s novel is incredibly weird – which makes Lanthimos the perfect filmmaker to bring it to the screen, because he has worked with some incredibly weird subject matter before. In addition to The Favourite, Lanthimos’ directing credits include Dogtooth, Alps, The Lobster, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
Stone and Lanthimos produced Poor Things with Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe.
Are you interested in Poor Things? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Here are the first-look images:
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