No two people feel the exact same way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of this year’s Oscar movies. Here's Abe Friedtanzer and Nick Taylor on Poor Things…
NICK: Hello Abe! Congratulations on Poor Things winning the Team Experience Award for Best Picture. I’m glad a film that moves, sounds, and dresses in such an offbeat manner has become such a critical and popular hit. It’s always nice to see weird art winning. That being said, I don’t count myself as a fan of Poor Things, and have a lot of complaints I could throw at its many, many, unapologetic excesses. Still, I like starting these Split Decision panels on notes of praise, and I’d really love to hear what you think of Poor Things.
ABE: Hey Nick! Always happy to chat about movies. I had the pleasure of seeing Poor Things at the New York Film Festival back in September right after May December, a film that many liked that I did not. I've been a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos' since the incredible Oscar-nominated Greek film Dogtooth, and I found both The Lobster and The Favourite extremely interesting and engaging. I was very turned off, however, by The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Lanthimos' offbeat nature and his winning blend of pitch-black comedy and drama is usually quite effective, but Poor Things is a departure even from that…
When I saw it, I took some time to think about it and it gradually built in my mind, ultimately ending up as my #1 film of the year. It's overflowing with creativity and hits so many incredible notes with its cast, storyline, and stunning visuals. While I can understand how the premise might be very disturbing to some and a hurdle to even accept, it didn't bother me and somehow worked. I'm still dazzled by it thinking back to the experience of seeing it. When and where did you see it, and what was your initial reaction?
NICK: I saw it the day before Oscar nominations were announced, after months of polarized, impassioned reactions swirling in my head, both from online testimonials and conversations with friends. If I’m remembering correctly, the ticket clerk at the theater told me “have a weird time!” with a very excited grin on her face. Like you, I couldn’t stand The Killing of a Sacred Deer, but I’ve otherwise liked or loved Lanthimos’s previous films.
So, I walked into the theater with what I will call nervous optimism, hoping for the best and steeling myself for the worst. And initially, I was having an okay time! It wasn’t grooving to a wavelength I connected to, but I appreciated its weirdness. Willem Dafoe’s face and voice, the proudly atonal score, all the fish-eye lenses and chromatic variations with the cinematography. She’s not like other girls! She’s weird!
But Mark Ruffalo was the first element to really put me off Poor Things. It’s such an excessively scaled performance, ridiculous and unmodulated without really registering to me as the actor having much control over what he’s doing. I can’t argue that there’s a lack of directorial vision behind his choices, but it plays as messily unconvincing in a way that was reflected in the kooky architectures and the multicolored skies. I love a movie where it’s clear everyone involved was encouraged to go for it and let their imaginations go wild, but none of this felt visually coherent or tonally interesting to me.
ABE: That’s funny, because I thought Ruffalo was excellent and he would probably get my vote for supporting actor of the year. I haven’t always appreciated his performances as much as most, and in fact wouldn’t have championed most of his previous Oscar nominations since I didn’t find them to be all that spectacular. But leaning into that weirdness and excess here definitely worked for me, and I was worried that he wouldn’t score an Oscar nomination for what I believe to be his best performance to date. But I do get how its excess could have turned you off.
Emma Stone was also incredible, and I love how she’s managed to try such different things in such a short time. While there are arguments being made that she doesn’t need a second Oscar already, I think she’s absolutely deserving (Gladstone is too) and it’s so starkly different from La La Land, and Birdman, and The Favourite, which may actually be my second-favorite performance of hers. Did you like Stone, and would you want her to win for the performance alone?
NICK: I didn’t like Stone either! I admire the risks she’s taking with this performance, and her commitment to making weird art across her career. But I found a lot of her choices to be underwhelming and surface-level. It’s a tricky role - an infantile woman whose tremendous intellectual growth is tied pretty significantly to erotic self-expression, with lots of work necessarily requiring pronounced changes to her vocal cadences and body language to externalize those internal shifts. There’s plenty of moment-to-moment stuff I enjoy, like when she stops herself from laughing at a premature orgasm or the routine she develops with her johns. Still, I don’t see Stone adding a ton to the character as written or connecting the many dots Bella evolves through across the plot.
I would not vote for her, though I feel more of my problems with her come back to the script, which is so much more insistent on telling us how to feel about these characters and these themes than any of Lanthimos’s previous films. I apologize if this is too mean, but Kathryn Hunter’s monologues feel about as declamatory as America Ferrera’s big speech in Barbie, except this brothel Madame has to bite someone on the ear, because we can’t be too serious or unironic with our statements on The Wrongs Women Face. Also, I wish we could’ve seen any real reckoning from Bella when she learns how Godwin made her. That should be a way bigger deal to her, right?
If I were to give it an Oscar in any category it’s nominated for, it would either be Makeup & Hairstyling or Score, though I’m not sure that means I’d vote for them. Frankly, I’m a bit embarrassed at how much I’ve discussed the acting and writing of a film with such demanding aesthetic. Is there a filmmaking element of Poor Things that stands out for you?
ABE: Though I liked everything, I think the production design stands out the most. I keep picturing the vivid colors and sets that make this seem like a fantasy set in another world. I think back to the deck of the boat with the sky and all of those gorgeous interiors. The costumes also wowed me, and while it seems strange for Barbie to only go home with a Best Original Song nomination, I do think this film should have the edge over that one in these two races.
I’ll close my defense of this movie by saying that I do think the premise of this film is what will turn people off most, though evidently others will find fault with lots about it! While discussing this film this much has surely made you like it less, it’s making me want to plan a re-watch!
NICK: Let me backload my testimony with a lot of compliments, since I feel like my negativity was even more negative than I expected. The giant ruffled shoulders of Bella’s outfits were a joy, and I thought the boat and God’s house were my favorite sets to poke through and examine. I love everything about Hanna Schygulla’s character, from her cumulus cloud hair to her utter amusement at Ruffalo attempting to murder her. Last but not least, I thought Chris Abbott’s performance gave Poor Things the venomous comedic edge I’d been wanting for more of its runtime. The film definitely stuck its landing for me.
Thank you for being such a great conversation partner, Abe! Discussing the film with you and hearing what you liked about it has made me curious to re-watch it again, especially since Lanthimos’s films usually feel more revealing on a second go-around.
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