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‘Poor Things’: Emma Stone Slaps and Flaps in an Enchanting, Beguiling 30 Seconds

The first “Poor Things” teaser validates our excitement for the upcoming film. Emma Stone enchants as a Frankenstein-like woman, guiding Mark Ruffalo around a dreamlike world.

One of my most anticipated movies of the year is Poor Things, the latest from Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, The Lobster). Reuniting with Emma Stone and throwing actors like Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe into the mix, Lanthimos has one of the best-cast movies of the year up his sleeve.

But the premise and cinematography are even more beguiling, in the best possible way. This first teaser from the upcoming Searchlight Pictures film, due Sept. 8, is at once gorgeous and bizarre. And at 34 seconds in length, it’s easily one of the most exciting glimpses of a film I’ve seen in ages.

Stone plays Bella Baxter in this Frankenstein-like phantasmagoria, a woman brought back to life by a sketchy scientist (Dafoe). She soon shacks up with Duncan Wedderburn (amazing name; he’s played by Mark Ruffalo), a lawyer who is sort of Bella’s opposite. Where she’s wide-eyed, bushy-tailed, and eager to explore the world, Duncan is driven by more capital pursuits.

But while a mixture of beautifully unreal imagery—candy-colored skies filled with tramways; pastel ships emitting neon smoke; gigantic sandcastles positioned against ombre skylines; Emma Stone flying on some creature in the sky—may not convince Duncan that it’s a beautiful thing, being alive, it’s certainly got me sold.

I especially love seeing Bella flap her arms and twirl across a banquet hall, followed by her slapping Duncan in the face. Cinema!

Poor Things debuts in theaters Sept. 8.

Allegra FrankDeputy Entertainment Editor

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