Poor Things(2023)

Submitted by Jeremy

Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) is a woman who previously committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. A scientist, Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), recovered her body and discovered she was pregnant. He swapped her brain with the baby’s and has kept her as his ward, studying the progression of her intelligence. Godwin takes on an assistant, Max McCandles, who falls in love with Bella. Wanting to see more of the world, Bella is whisked away by lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), who takes her to Lisbon where she sees new things, meets new people, and develops a voracious sexual appetite.

Bella’s increasing intelligence and free will becomes too much for Duncan to control. The two board a cruise ship, where Bella meets a passenger named Harry, who shows her that the world can be more cruel than she is aware. After she donates Duncan’s money, the two are kicked off and end up in Paris, where Bella becomes a prostitute to earn funds and have a place to stay. She befriends another prostitute, Toinette, and Duncan has a breakdown after knowing what Bella has been up to.

Godwin, who has had less luck replicating his experiment on another woman, Felicity, suddenly falls ill and has Max go find Bella. After she is brought home, Bella and Max plan to get married, but they are interrupted by General Alfie Blessington, who was Bella’s former husband when she lives as Victoria. Alfie makes Bella return with him, making her realize she committed suicide because being married to him was horrible. After he attempts to force her to stay, Bella causes him to shoot himself in the foot and get knocked out by his own chloroform cocktail.

Godwin passes away, and Bella continues his research with help from Max, while Alfie’s brain is swapped out with that of a goat.