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2023 / Science fantasy / Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Learning beyond the protection of a creator.
What is Poor Things about?
Scientist Godwin Baxter brings Bella Baxter back to life and protects her while she learns about the world. Bella leaves that protected setting with lawyer Duncan Wedderburn, beginning a journey across unfamiliar places and social expectations.
Five things to know.
Starting situation
Bella is brought back to life through Godwin Baxter's unusual experiment, making learning part of her starting situation.
The departure
She travels with Duncan Wedderburn and encounters a world beyond the environment in which Baxter has protected her.
The central question
The setup puts the wish to explore alongside other people's attempts to define what Bella should want or understand.
Credits
Yorgos Lanthimos directs the 2023 film, starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo.
Adaptation boundary
The film adapts Alasdair Gray's novel, but this page describes the screen version rather than substituting the novel's setting and events.
A thought to take with you.
Bella's dependence on an experiment's creator does not tell her what to value as she encounters the world. Protection, knowledge, and freedom can therefore pull in different directions. A useful question is who gets to decide when a person has learned enough to choose for herself, and whose interests that decision serves.
Is it your kind of movie?
Choose it for an adult science-fantasy journey about learning and autonomy. This is a premise guide to Lanthimos's film, not a summary of Gray's novel.
Sources & scope
This AI-assisted brief draws on the linked descriptions and production information. Facts and interpretation are separated; it does not claim personal viewing or independent expert review.
Source details checked October 11, 2026. Suggest a correction · Our editorial approach