New Poor Things Trailer Delights in Emma Stone’s Modern Frankenstein

Forget the summer blockbuster season, can we fast forward to the autumn so we’re nearer to the latest Yorgos Lanthimos joint? Poor Things, the director’s follow-up to 2018’s critically acclaimed The Favourite, is the latest mind-bender from Lanthimos’ wonderfully askew imagination, starring a returning Emma Stone as a woman brought back from the dead, tasked with beginning life all over again with no real idea of what she’s doing. In a new Poor Things trailer released today, we see Stone’s Bella Baxter grappling with both joy and consternation in an unfamiliar but fantastical world, in settings whose art direction and cinematography evoke everything from Michel Gondry or Jean-Pierre Jeunet to a Bjork music video. The film is scheduled for a Sept. 8, 2023 release from Searchlight Pictures. The official synopsis, meanwhile, is as follows:

A young woman, Bella Baxter (Stone), is brought back to life by scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Wanting to see more of the world, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, and travels across continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella demands equality and liberation.

Poor Things is described as a “surrealist science-fiction romantic comedy,” and is adapted from the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. You can consider it a postmodern Frankenstein, in which the “creature” is our romantic protagonist, overcoming her unfamiliarity with the world she’s been birthed into by a deranged-looking scientist played by Willem Dafoe. There are plenty of other comic faces as well, including Jerrod Carmichael and Ramey Youssef, though it looks like Mark Ruffalo really intends to steal every scene he’s in as Wedderburn, a man who seemingly tempts Bella into a life of adventure, Pinocchio-style.

The Poor Things trailer obviously stands out for its wild and imaginative visual language, featuring dreamscapes and fantastical bits of impossible architecture and gadgetry that hint at a lush, heady cinematic experience. It’s safe to say we can’t wait to see more this fall. For now, check out the trailer below.