Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023)

 

It seems that this movie conquered the heart of almost every Greek that went and saw the movie. I don't know what happened in other countries, but here was the biggest event of 2023 and one of the biggest events of the recent years. I know people who never went to the movies that went and saw the movie. I also know a lot of people who never watch fantasy-like movies that went and saw that movie. And finally, which is the funniest of all, I know a lot of people who never waffle about a movie that suddenly found their lost voice and couldn't stop talking about the fucking movie. In other words Poor Things became something like a trend or a cultural phenomenon. 9 out of 10 critics in Greece gave the movie four and a half or five stars and it became their number one selection of the year, using enthusiastic words like "masterpiece", "phenomenal" and stuff like that. Even assholes went to see the movie. Inside all this "noise" I stayed still. I stayed so still that I even thought of not watching the movie at all. Finally I saw it one afternoon at my house. 

Poor Things, unfortunately, is a wooden movie and a show-off movie. The movie is trying to present itself that is speaking about serious and substantial issues, but it stays on scratching the surface of the things that it deals with. Many called it a feminist glorious movie that speaks about the freedom of choosing and being yourself, who you really are. Well, for me the movie chose the flashy, catchy and finally shallow way to communicate these otherwise highly crucial existential themes. The movie deliberately mixes everything but the kitchen sink, little fantasy, little Victorian era, little comedy, little drama, little absurdism, little social criticism, little existential comment and finally gives to the audience a mishmash that contains absolutely nothing. Speaks and deals with absolutely nothing. Yes, the film bears some undeniable charm that is, sadly, totally lost inside all this messy chaos that is presenting. Poor Things is the typical movie to become such a huge success. It offers too much noise, for too little substance.