Behind the sumptuous, monstrous craft of ‘Poor Things’

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — “Poor Things” is a Frankenstein-esque fantasia about a young woman (Emma Stone) reanimated by a demented surgeon (Willem Dafoe). Yet the behind-the-scenes work that went into crafting the movie’s wildly warped world may be the film’s greatest act of mad science. Though Yorgos Lanthimos’ earlier films, at least leading up to “The Favourite,” were more spare productions, “Poor Things” fuses all the tools of classic Hollywood filmmaking — grand sets, miniatures, sumptuous costumes — with subtler touches of modern technology. The movie is, itself, a Frankenstein. “Poor Things,” nominated for seven Golden Globes, is one of the most acclaimed films of the year. And a lot of that is owed to the richness of its craftsmanship.