--- title: "Poor Things: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/poor-things/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/poor-things" critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Poor Things (2023): what the critics said Critics' score 76 from 12 reviews: 9 positive, 0 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics like Poor Things a good deal, and nearly all of them like it for the same reason. Emma Stone’s performance as Bella Baxter is praised in almost every review, usually for its fearlessness and its comic timing, and several critics call it the best work she has done. The design, costumes and camerawork come a close second, with the film’s baroque, invented Victorian world described as inventive and a pleasure to look at. Reservations among the admirers are about length: a handful of reviews say it runs long and could lose twenty minutes. The dissent is small but sharp. Film Comment finds the humour one-note and the ideas shallow; Vulture calls it a sterile, exhibitionist treatment of female sexuality; The Ringer and The New York Times both find it smug, arguing that it wants to be admired more than it wants to unsettle. Even the sceptics concede Stone and the visuals. The spread is wide, though weighted heavily towards the top. ## Little White Lies — Savina Petkova Rating 5/5/5. 10 January 2024. The critic calls it Lanthimos at his most playful and comedic, praising Emma Stone's career-defining performance as Bella Baxter in this opulent provocation about the body as a nexus for pleasure and pain. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/poor-things) ## The Guardian — Wendy Ide Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 January 2024. The critic finds the film a funny, filthy and explosively inventive spin on Frankenstein driven by Stone's courageous performance as Bella. The inventive design, score and camerawork create a carnival of oddness that mirrors the character's voyage of discovery. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/14/poor-things-review-yorgos-lanthimos-emma-stone-frankenstein) ## Radio Times — James Mottram Rating 4/5. 12 January 2024. The critic highlights Emma Stone's remarkable performance in this eccentric and uncanny fable, noting it shows Lanthimos as the master purveyor of the strange and surreal, though it could use some trimming. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/poor-things-review/) ## Film Comment — Beatrice Loayza Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). The critic describes the film as a lavishly designed steampunk fantasia of feminist wish fulfillment with inventive aesthetics, but finds it conceptually boring and repetitive in its one-note humor and shallow thematic treatment. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/babe-land-yorgos-lanthimos-emma-stone-poor-things-review/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 15 December 2023. The critic finds the film a sterile, exhibitionist take on female sexuality that fails as a sincere treatise, reducing empowerment to surface-level provocation and a male auteur's limited vision. While acknowledging visual and costuming strengths, the review deems the narrative and spiritual hollowness ultimately ugly. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/poor-things-review-a-banal-rendition-of-sexual-freedom.html) ## Empire — John Nugent 13 December 2023. The critic calls the film absolutely batshit, utterly filthy and a true original. They single out Emma Stone's richest, most interesting and fearless performance as Bella. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/poor-things/) ## Evening Standard — Jo-Ann Titmarsh 10 January 2024. Festival review. The critic says Lanthimos and Stone have triumphed again with a delight that is eccentric, smart, a little dark, lovely to look at and charming as hell. They single out Stone's phenomenal performance running the gamut from infantile to articulate maturity. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/poor-things-movie-review-venice-film-festival-yorgos-lanthimos-emma-stone-b1104306.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang 1 September 2023. Festival review. A splendidly deranged science-fiction-horror-comedy-fantasia that showcases Stone's extraordinary, audacious performance as Bella, whose sexual and moral awakening drives the story. Lanthimos blends wicked playfulness with serious undertones of female empowerment and human cruelty in a film that is not for everyone but rewards those who embrace its stylized imagery and happy ending. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-09-01/poor-things-review-emma-stone-yorgos-lanthimos-venice-telluride-2023-film-festivals) ## Screen Daily 1 September 2023. Festival review. The review lauds the ultra-baroque period futurism anchored by Emma Stone's dazzling performance, calling it an outré feminist fable bound to captivate audiences. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/poor-things-venice-review/5185480.article) ## Sight and Sound 4 September 2023. Festival review. The critic praises the film's fantastical frames that give pleasure to the eye and soul, highlighting Emma Stone's extraordinary performance and Lanthimos's visual imagination. It notes the film's accurate take on contemporary issues amid its absurd delights. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/poor-things-film-that-gives-pleasure-every-fantastical-frame) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney 1 September 2023. Festival review. The critic praises the film's nonstop bonkers brilliance as a picaresque feminist Candide and Emma Stone's fearless, expansive performance in the lead role. Design elements, costumes, and craft contributions are highlighted as major standouts alongside the ensemble's embrace of the material's madness and philosophical curiosity. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/poor-things-review-emma-stone-mark-ruffalo-yorgos-lanthimos-1235579912/) ## The i Paper — Francesca Steele 10 January 2024. The critic finds the film uproarious and thought-provoking, calling it a magnificent examination of self-discovery told in the wittiest and weirdest way possible. They single out Stone's fearless, hilarious performance with impeccable comic timing. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/poor-things-review-emma-stone-2846217) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis 7 December 2023. The film is a visually sumptuous and gleefully clever Victorian-era riff on Frankenstein, but it is so self-satisfied that it borders on bullying the viewer into admiration. Stone delivers an anarchic, liberated performance amid rich design, though the ideas remain thin and the eccentricity eventually wears thin. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/movies/poor-things-review.html) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 5/5. 27 November 2023. The critic hails Emma Stone's fearless, career-best performance as the galvanizing Bella Baxter in this grandly perverse, exuberant dark comedy that blends Gothic horror, hedonism, and unexpected optimism into a one-of-a-kind bacchanal fantasia. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/poor-things-review-emma-stone-frankenstein-for-ages/) ## The Playlist — Rafa Sales Ross Rating A+. 1 September 2023. Festival review. The critic praises it as one of the year's very best, highlighting Lanthimos' refined philosophical musings, accomplished visual work with bold colors and production design, and the biting humor from Tony McNamara's script. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/poor-things-review-yorgos-lanthimos-fantastic-epic-is-one-of-the-years-very-best-venice-20230901/) ## /Film — Mike Shutt Rating 9.5/10. 13 November 2023. The critic calls it one of Lanthimos' finest films and possibly the best of the year, praising Emma Stone's bravura performance as Bella and the vibrant, unique world created by the production design and cinematography. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1445137/poor-things-review/) ## Collider — Ross Bonaime Rating 9/10. 4 December 2023. The critic praises the film as visually stunning with Emma Stone's phenomenal performance, calling it one of the best films of 2023. They highlight Lanthimos' unique vision and the cast's excellence in bringing the eccentric world to life. [Read the review](https://collider.com/poor-things-review/) ## Deadline — Stephanie Bunbury Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2023. Festival review. The critic hails the film as a glorious paean to freedom, returning to Lanthimos' core themes of human nature beneath its extravagant period trappings. Stone's energetic embrace of the naive, rapidly evolving Bella is singled out alongside inventive direction and strong ensemble work. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2023/09/poor-things-review-yorgos-lanthimos-emma-stone-venice-film-festival-1235533982/) ## NME — James Mottram Rating 4/5. 11 January 2024. The critic calls the film a visually resplendent, cheekily written feminist Frankenstein tale and mind-blower, spotlighting Emma Stone's physically dexterous and idiosyncratic performance at its center while noting it can feel over-extended. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/poor-things-review-emma-stone-yorgos-lanthimos-sex-comedy-3569226) ## The Ringer — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 7 December 2023. The critic finds the film mixed, praising Stone's uninhibited performance but criticizing Lanthimos for blending alienation with ingratiation in a way that flattens the satire and makes the film feel smug and crowd-pleasing. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2023/12/07/movies/poor-things-movie-review-emma-stone) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/poor-things.md