On feminist approach: A review of Yorgos Lanthimo’s ‘Poor Things’

The latter half of the film merely affirms the statement above. Somewhere along Bella’s adventure, she meets Harry Astley (Jerrod Carmichael) and Martha von Kurtzroc (Hanna Schygulla) who inspires her to take an eager interest in philosophy. 

Astley takes Bella to the slums and presents the world from a nihilistic perspective. This, in return, gives birth to Bella’s idealism:

Bella: We must go help them.

Astley:  How will we do that? When we go down there, they’ll quite rightfully rope us, rob us, and rape us. And if they were here, and we were there, we'd do the same to them.

Two male tricksters took advantage of Bella’s endeavour to assist the poor through Duncan’s gambling income.

In Paris, Bella finds a brothel and meets Madame Swiney (Kathryn Hunter), a tattoed lady who also exploits her childlike naïveté and profits from her sexual liberation. This, supposedly, opens the character’s search for sexual agency, but ultimately in doing so, the men she gratifies are the very people who determine what she experiences. 

Lest we forget, some groups took advantage of female liberation in the past. Such were pornographers in the seventies who viewed women’s unrestricted sexual expression as always consenting. 

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In the end, she returns to God’s home and confronts him about her origins. The film opts not to condemn him but rather fosters forgiveness in the name of his deteriorating health and Bella’s love. 

All points considered, the film veers away from the feminist angles for which it was supposedly praised. Feminism, in a broad sense, is challenging the system that puts women’s choices at the curb. Just because a female lead chooses to do something, does not inherently qualify the act as feminist.

In Poor Things, I find little to no resolute adherence to feminist principles—Bella was devoid of freedom from the moment she was “born” and her ways of turning the table have so far been meddled with demands from patriarchy.

I give credit where it is due: Bella’s defiance of social norms is empowering; one scene, in particular, made the whole cinema erupt in laughter: after making love with Duncan, she mulls over the fact that sex is exhilarating. She takes an innocent jab at the latter for being unable to do it repeatedly (the way women can). 

In the movie, it was but a line for comic relief, beyond the screen, it was an insult to male biology.

Audiences are bound to find similar instances in this surprisingly dark yet witty narrative. Regardless of whether its creators aimed for such humour, Poor Things proved to be noticeably funnier than other comedies within its genre. 

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Lanthimos succeeded in creating a faithful adaptation of this story by Alasdair Gray. The filmmaker built an otherworldly, technicolour space that provides a feeling of wonder. 

As of this post, the movie has been bagging awards and praises—something it truly deserves considering the daring visuals, sharp comebacks, and occasional chuckles its characters have provided throughout.

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