20th Century Studios
Already having an Academy Award for Best Actress under her belt, Emma Stone is expected to compete for the award again this year for her performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ new film Poor Things.
As is usually the case with Lanthimos’ films (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite), Poor Things has quite the eccentric plot, as it’s essentially about a Frankenstein woman who goes on a sexual odyssey of self-discovery.
Due to the inherent nature of the plot, Poor Things features quite a lot of intimate scenes, which Lanthimos says Stone tackled with a necessary fearlessness.
“It’s weird, isn’t it? Why is there no sex in movies? First of all, it was an intrinsic part of the novel itself — her freedom about everything, including sexuality. And secondly, it was very important for me to not make a film which was going to be prude because that would be completely betraying the main character,” Lanthimos said earlier this year at the Venice Film Festival.
“[Stone has] no shame about her body, nudity, engaging in those scenes. And she understood that right away. The great thing about myself and Emma is that now we’ve completed four films together, so there’s a shorthand. We can communicate without having to explain everything or talk too much about things.”
Here is the official synopsis for Poor Things:
Brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist, a young woman runs off with a lawyer on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, she grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.
In addition to Stone, Poor Things — which will be released in movie theaters on Friday, December 8 — also stars Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Christopher Abbot, and Ramy Youssef. Stone is also currently starring in the Nathan Fielder-created show The Curse, which is airing on Showtime.