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But those impulses are rancid.
But Bella seeks adventure and knowledge about the world as passionately as Godwin bars her from experiencing it.
Yet the film never outright feels sluggish as it is poised to punch and bruise rather than allure.
(For all the fucking, there is no menstrual blood!)
About 20 minutes intoPoor Things, the audience and Max learn the truth of Bellas captivity under Godwin.
She has been reanimated after having thrown herself off the edge of a bridge.
I could have kept her alive, Godwin notes.
Take the infant brain out and put it in the full grown woman.
Godwin frames his decision as respecting Bellas former selfswish for suicide even though its anything but.
The very next scene is Bella discovering masturbation and orgasms.
Then, at the dinner table, she experiments with an apple.
Next, she tries a cucumber.
As Duncan, Mark Ruffalo is woefully arch.
And so Duncan seeks to capture her for himself.
Bella knows hes a cad, but he brings her pleasure and opportunity outside the realm of Godwins grasp.
The more instructive performances are given by Dafoe and Stone.
Dafoe plays every movement and gesture as labored.
He shuffles and sighs and sulks.
Stone is undoubtedly committed too.
As Bella matures, her movements shift from boldly angular to silkenly controlled.
In theory, charting the way a woman becomes her own muse can be a splendid undertaking.
ButPoor Thingsmakes the fatal mistake of thinking the only thing interesting to a liberated woman is herself.
Of course, this is how Tony McNamara wrote Bella: a charming and chaotic spectacle.
And look, I love a good sex scene.
But sex scenes arent worthwhile merely for existing.
Which isnt to say sex scenes need to move a plot along or provide narrative purpose for a story.
I want to see what a grown woman thinks and feels about sex!
Show a woman with a body and brain above the age of 40 getting gloriously railed.
Poor Thingsis ultimately ugly spiritually and narratively, which curdles even its aesthetic splendor.
But cinematographer Robbie Rynas use of a fish-eye lens and extreme close-ups is garish enough to make me wince.
The greatest triumph of the film is the costuming.
Holly Waddingtons eye for color and texture is tremendous, particularly when it comes to Bellas wardrobe.
Stone wears it all with as much panache as Waddington put into her crafting.
And this hollowness bleeds into the supporting acting.
Jerrod Carmichael gives one of the most uncomfortable and unnatural performances Ive seen in a long time.
Margaret Qualley as a mostly wordless experiment Godwin conjures because he misses Bella barely registers.
Ramy Youssef shoots for tenderness, but the nature of the premise makes such a posture unbelievable.
Around this time last year, I wrote thatall great directors are perverts.
Bella is a closed circuit.
