Inlate-Victorian London, 1882,[b] the medical student Max McCandles is recruited by themad scientist Godwin Baxter to record the behaviour of a strange, nearly mute woman living in Godwin's house. Godwin reveals that her body is that of a woman who was pregnant and died by suicide by leaping off Tower Bridge; Godwin replaced the woman's brain with that of thefetus, giving her an infant's mind, and named her Bella Baxter.
As weeks pass, Bella's vocabulary improves and she exhibits childlike wonder at the world. With Godwin's encouragement, Max falls in love with Bella and proposes marriage. Bella accepts, but soon discovers masturbation and sexual pleasure, leading her to run off with Duncan Wedderburn, a debauched lawyer, toLisbon. There, they have near-constant intercourse because Bella has no understanding of anything beyond physical pleasure. A fellow hotel guest addresses her as "Victoria Blessington".
As Bella becomes difficult for Duncan to control, he smuggles her onto a cruise ship, where she befriends two passengers who open her mind to philosophy. Duncan attempts to further stunt her growth to no avail, and indulges in drinking and gambling. During a stop atAlexandria, Bella witnesses the suffering of the poor and becomes distraught. Wishing to help them, she entrusts Duncan's winnings to unscrupulous members of the crew, who falsely promise to give it to them.
Unable to afford the rest of the trip, Bella and Duncan are dropped off atMarseille and make their way toParis, penniless. Seeking money and accommodation, Bella begins working at a brothel. Enraged, Duncan breaks down, and Bella abandons him. At the brothel, she comes under the tutelage of Madame Swiney and begins a relationship with fellow prostitute Toinette, who introduces her tosocialism.
Now terminally ill, Godwin asks Max to bring Bella to him. Max finds her after tracking down Duncan, who has been institutionalised. Back in London, Bella reconciles with Godwin and renews her plans to marry Max, but their wedding is interrupted by Duncan and General Alfie Blessington. Alfie, addressing Bella as Victoria, declares that they were married before her disappearance and that he has come to reclaim her. Bella leaves Max to learn of her past life, but is exposed to Alfie's violent and sadistic nature. Bella partially realises that she was Victoria, and that she killed herself to escape Alfie.
Alfie confines Bella to his mansion and tells her that he plans to have herclitoris removed and impregnate her, threatening her with a gun and demanding she drink a sedative. She tosses the sedative in his face. Alfie accidentally shoots himself in the foot and passes out. Bella returns to Godwin's house and, with Max's help, transplants a goat's brain into Alfie's head. Godwin dies peacefully with Bella and Max at his side. Bella, Max, and Toinette begin a new life in Godwin's house, while Alfie happily eats grass.
Produced byFilm4 Productions,Element Pictures, andSearchlight Pictures, development on the film began as early as 2009, when Lanthimos went to Scotland to discuss the acquisition of the rights toPoor Things with the author,Alasdair Gray. "He was a very lovely man", Lanthimos said. "Unfortunately, he died just a couple of years before we actually made the film, but he was very special and energetic; he was 80-something [when we met], and as soon as I got there, he had seenDogtooth and said, 'I had my friend put on the DVD, because I don't know how to operate these things, but I think you're very talented, young man.'" Lanthimos said Gray took him on a personal tour ofGlasgow, where Gray showed him several places he had incorporated into the story.[9]
While filmingThe Favourite (2018), Lanthimos revisited the project, which he discussed with Emma Stone, who starred in that film. He began developingPoor Things more actively after the success ofThe Favourite: "After the relative success ofThe Favourite, where I actually made a slightly more expensive film that was successful, people were more inclined to allow me to do whatever it is that I wanted, so I just went back to Gray's book and said, 'This is what I want to do.' It was a long process, but the book was always on my mind." While developing the film, Lanthimos and Stone collaborated on the short filmBleat (2022).[10]
Poor Things was announced in February 2021.[11] Lanthimos said that working with Stone again gave him an advantage, as they had developed a mutual trust. Stone also discussed how the process of makingPoor Things was different from makingThe Favourite because she also acted as a producer: "It was so interesting to be involved in how the film was being pieced together, from cast to department heads to what have you. Ultimately, Yorgos was the one making those decisions, but I was very involved in the process, which started duringthe pandemic; we were reaching out to people and casting and everything during that time, because we couldn't go anywhere."[10]
In preparation for her role, Stone took dance lessons and accidentally dyed her hair black. Lanthimos liked the contrast between the dark hair and Stone's fair complexion.[19][20] Stone said she was attracted to the idea of portraying a woman reborn with a liberated mindset free from societal pressures:
It's such a fairy tale, and a metaphor—clearly, this can't actually happen—but the idea that you could start anew as a woman, as this body that's already formed, and see everything for the first time and try to understand the nature of sexuality, or power, or money or choice, the ability to make choices and live by your own rules and not society's—I thought that was a really fascinating world to go into.
Stone especially appreciated Bella's lack of shame:
Even though Bella has obviously been through trauma in her life, it just isn't there for her now. She was the most joyous character in the world to play, because she has no shame about anything. She's new, you know? I've never had to build a character before that didn't have things that had happened to them or had been put on them by society throughout their lives. It was an extremely freeing experience to be her.[10]
Youssef said that to prepare for their roles, he and Dafoe attended mortician school. Reflecting on the "experimental theater games" Lanthimos assigned the cast before filming, Dafoe said, "You're very patient with everyone, and everyone's patient with you. They need to be confident in what they're doing, because what we're doing is quite risky. It's not a normal film."[19] Dafoe spent six hours each day in the hair and makeup department—four hours getting extensive prosthetics applied to his face at the start of the day and two hours to get it all removed at the end.[21]
Discussing the male characterizations, Lanthimos acknowledged that while each male character was different and had his own motivation, they all reflected male attitudes typical of the story's Victorian setting. He said:
There are variations, I guess, but in this film, there's a general tendency to try to control [Bella]—even if it's done in a caring or subtle way, in the way that a parent might or that [Dafoe's character] Baxter does, or just being infatuated in the way that Ramy is. You know, being a nice man deep down, but still having the characteristics of a man of that era.
Stone also said that "the more agency Bella gets, the more she learns and grows, the more it drives these men insane. The more she has an opinion and her own wants and needs and all of that, it makes them crazy; they want her to stay this sort of pure thing."[10]
Lanthimos worked closely with costume designerHolly Waddington to reflect Bella's growth and development through her wardrobe, from the more puffy silhouettes of her childlike era to the nearly corseted gown she wears at the film's climax.[27][28][29] Stone elaborated on Bella's growth as reflected through her costumes, noting how at the beginning of the story she dresses in more traditional clothing and dresses more bizarrely as she transforms. She said:
I loved that element of, how would Bella put clothing together with the way her mind works at this point? At the end, there are these very military-looking dresses that look like nothing you've seen Bella wear; things are much more form-fitting and constrained, but that's because she's come to a place where she's grown and decided who she is and what she's going to do. She's not assimilating, necessarily, but there's just more structure there.[10]
Poor Things was the first film scored by the pop musicianJerskin Fendrix.Milan Records released the soundtrack album in conjunction with the film's release date, December 8, 2023. Two singles, "Bella" and "Lisbon", were released on November 14.[30]
Poor Things was released on digital platforms on February 27, 2024,[48] and became available for streaming onHulu in the U.S. on March 7[49] and onDisney+ in Canada the same day.[50] The film was released byWalt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD on March 12.[48]
Poor Things grossed $34.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $82.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $117.2 million.[3][4]
In its limited opening weekend, it made $644,000 from nine theaters, a per-venue average of $71,556 (the third-best of 2023).[51] Expanding to 82 theaters the following weekend, it made $2.2 million, finishing 10th.[52] In its third weekend it made $2.4 million from 800 theaters, and a total of $3.4 million over the four-day Christmas frame.[53] Following its 11 Oscar nominations, it expanded from 900 theaters to 2,300 in its eighth week of release and made $3.08 million, an increase of 43% from the previous weekend.[54] The next weekend it made $2.2 million.[55]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 93% of 377 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Wildly imaginative and exhilaratingly over the top,Poor Things is a bizarre, brilliant tour de force for director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone."[56]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 88 out of 100, based on 62 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[57] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while 68% of those polled byPostTrak called the film "excellent", with 75% saying they would definitely recommend it.[51]Glamour wrote that the film "received widespread critical acclaim following its world premiere" and that Stone was "praised for her hilariously bold and fearless sex scenes" in it.[58]
Stephanie Zacharek ofTime wrote thatPoor Things is "Lanthimos' finest film so far, a strange, gorgeous-looking picture that extends generosity both to its characters and the audience". She called Stone's performance "wonderful—vital, exploratory, almost lunar in its perfect oddness".[59]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian called it a "virtuoso comic epic" and added that Stone had given a "hilarious, beyond-next-level performance".[60] David Rooney ofThe Hollywood Reporter termed it "an insanely enjoyable fairy tale", adding that Stone "gorges on it in a fearless performance that traces an expansive arc most actors could only dream about".[5]Variety's Guy Lodge also wrote that the film "rests on a single astonishing performance by Stone".[61]
BBC Culture's Nicholas Barber found the film "outrageous and hilarious", comparing it to the work ofWes Anderson andTerry Gilliam. The review also noted that the novel's realistic 19th-century setting had been changed to a fantastical "steam-punk wonderland", and that some of its satirical humor and most of its socialist and feminist themes had been toned down.[62] Reviews byThe Guardian,[60]Variety[61] andEntertainment Weekly[63] also emphasize the setting's steampunk elements.Manohla Dargis, chief critic ofThe New York Times, was not as impressed. She felt the story became more "monotonal, flat and dull" over time, writing that the movie's "design is rich, its ideas thin. … It isn't long intoPoor Things that you start to feel as if you were being bullied into admiring a film that's so deeply self-satisfied there really isn't room for the two of you". But Dargis too lauded Stone's acting.[64]
In June 2025,IndieWire ranked the film at number 88 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)."[67] In July 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition ofThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 106.[68]
Ramin Setoodeh and Zack Sharf inVariety wrote, "Not everyone lovedPoor Things. A stream of [Venice] theatergoers bolted for the exit during some of the racier scenes."[69]Mick LaSalle at theSan Francisco Chronicle called the film "a 141-minute mistake", writing, "Worst of all, it's dishonest. It purports to be a feminist document, but it defines a woman's autonomy as the ability to be exploited and not care. ... What version of feminism are these guys—Lanthimos and screenwriter Tony McNamara—trying to sell us here?"[70] Film criticScott Mantz applauded LaSalle's post, finding the film "a seriously misguided take on female empowerment", though he praised the film's ambition and production values.[71]
Angelica Jade Bastién ofVulture warned readers, "This isn't a sincere treatise on female sexuality, it's a dark comedy for people who carry around an NPR tote bag", and criticized the film for failing to take a "sincere interest in the interior conflicts" of its protagonist. Bastién identified the decision to make Bella Baxter mentally a child as the "primary failure ofPoor Things' sex scenes", citing Bella's depiction as an example of the "born sexy yesterday" trope. "In many ways", she wrote, "the film demonstrates the limits of the modern cis-male auteur's vision for and about women—particularly their sexual selves." Praise was saved for Holly Waddington's costuming, which Bastién called "the greatest triumph of the film".[72]
The film has been subject to scrutiny in Gray's native Scotland due to its seeming disregard for the source material and its Scottish roots,[73] with online documentary channel Ossian presenting a portrayal of the true origins ofPoor Things and its Scottish setting.[74] Those closest to Gray have suggested that Lanthimos's interpretation of the source material was something Gray agreed to in the early 2010s, when contractual terms for a screenplay were drawn up.[75]
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