Poor Things

The point of this seems to be: a woman’s decisions are her own, no matter how terrible they are. As a woman with a baby’s brain, Emma Stone turns-in an incredible, vulnerable physical performance. But it’s hard not to think that all the grotesque men in her life are really using and abusing her in a way that even a fantasy steam-punk netherworld can’t disguise. It’s a magical place with no pregnancies or STDs, and look at all those pretty dresses! Everything is filmed in a Jean-Pierre Junet fish-eye, wide-angle, and the music is weird, forcing all of the proceedings to feel like one big, long dream. It never grounds itself, even for a second. It’s visionary, and I’m happy this was made, but all the over-modulation leaves me piqued but not entirely satisfied.