Photo:Yorgos Lanthimos/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Yorgos Lanthimos/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
One of the buzziest films of this year’s Oscar season is Yorgos Lanthimos’Poor Things.The 2023 movie, which starsEmma Stone,Willem Dafoe,Mark Ruffaloand Ramy Youssef, is a humorous, bizarre take onFrankenstein.
Ruffalo is Duncan Wedderburn, a lawyer who takes Bella on a European adventure and becomes deeply enamored with her as well.
“It started with about three weeks of rehearsal, which was just playing theater games, really, and goofing off and cutting up. [That] gave us the feeling of safety with each other and a feeling of fun," Ruffalotold PEOPLEof what it was like on the film set.Poor Thingsis nominated for11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Stone is nominated for Best Actress and Ruffalo for Best Supporting Actor. Lanthimos is also in the running for Best Director.Lanthimos, however, did take some liberties with the film, which was adapted from Alastair Gray’s1992 novel of the same name.Read on for the biggest differences between the book and movie.Warning: Major spoilers for the novel and filmPoor Things
The movie is not solely told from Max’s point of view (and his name wasn’t originally Max)
Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo in a scene from ‘Poor Things’.Atsushi Nishijima/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Atsushi Nishijima/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
The movie, however, expands that perspective and follows multiple characters, with a larger focus on Bella and her view of the world. Her letters, which are sent to Godwin and Max at Godwin’s London estate, also feature in the film.
A few characters from the book are cut (and some are added)
Margaret Qualley, Willem Dafoe (center) and Ramy Youssef in a scene from ‘Poor Things’.Yorgos Lanthimos/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
The novel includes a variety of curious characters who don’t make it into the movie including Dr. Hooker, an American professor with colonialist values and Blaydon Hattersley, the father of Victoria Blessington, the woman who Bella’s body originally belongs to.The movie also sees the addition of a few characters, including Felicity (Margaret Qualley), a woman who Godwin creates while Bella is traveling with Duncan.
Bella returns home from London for different reasons
Emma Stone in ‘Poor Things’.Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Both the book and movie feature scenes in Paris, which Bella and Duncan visit together. While in the city, Bella finds a job as a sex worker to make money. In the film, Bella only returns home to England in the film once Godwin falls gravely ill, which leads to her wedding to Max. In the novel, she returns after sending a long letter to Archibald about her trip abroad.
Bella’s wedding plays out differently
The ending of the movie differs from the book
Willem Dafoe in a scene from ‘Poor Things’.Yorgos Lanthimos/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
While both the novel and the movie end with the aftermath of Bella’s wedding, the film takes a different turn. Bella initially leaves Max at the altar and decides to return to her/Victoria’s old life with Alfie. Bella quickly sees why Victoria initially left Alfie, who is intensely controlling. She shoots Alfie and takes him back to Godwin’s estate where she swaps Alfie’s brain with the brain of a goat and lives happily on the property with Max.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.In the novel, Bella also ends up with Archibald, but the novel ends with Godwin’s death instead. The book also features two additional sections: a letter from Bella to her future descendants about errors she finds in Archibald’s version of their story and an appendix from author Gray.
source: people.com
