There are plenty of intriguing titles vying for the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival. But Yorgos Lanthimos‘ “Poor Things,” the director’s first film since 2018’s “The Favorite,” may be the most intriguing of all. Based on Alasdair Gray‘s 1992 novel of the same name, “Poor Things” stars Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by a scientist who, after running away with a lawyer, decides to explore life in all its freedom–including, especially, sexual freedom.
READ MORE: ‘Poor Things’ Teaser: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Latest Hits Theaters Everywhere On September 8
While Stone isn’t on the Lido to promote the film due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Variety reports that Lanthimos talked at a press conference for “Poor Things” about how he and the actress navigated Bella’s sexual freedom, which comes with lots of onscreen nudity. In short, both Stone and Lanthimos wanted to be as faithful to Gray’s novel as possible. That meant Stone needed to be naked a lot on set, and an intimacy coordinator on the scene to help things out.
“It’s a shame that Emma could not be here to speak more about it, because it will be coming all from me,” Lanthimos said at the press conference. “First of all, sex is an intrinsic part of the novel itself, her freedom about everything including sexuality. Secondly, it was very important for me to not make a film that would be prudish, because that would be like completely betraying the main character. We had to be confident Emma had to have no shame about her body, nudity, engaging in those scenes, and she understood that right away.”
Lanthimos and Stone’s history working together helped a lot in this regard. “The great thing about me and Emma is that we have made four films together; there is a shorthand and we can communicate without having to explain or talk to much about things,” Lanthimos explained. “As soon as I started saying something about sex, she would say: ‘yes, of course, it’s Bella. We will do what we need to do.’” But the director also acknowledged that despite his comfort working with Stone, they needed the film’s intimacy coordinator, Elle McAlpine, on set to make sure things went smoothly. “At the beginning, this profession felt a little threatening to most filmmakers, but I think its like everything: if you’re with a good person, it’s great and you realise you actually need them,” Lanthimos said of McAlpine. “She made everything much easier for everyone.”
“Poor Things” also stars Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, and Jerrod Carmichael. Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley, Kathryn Hunter, Suzy Bemba, and Wayne Brett round out the main cast. The film has its world premiere at Venice today. It then screens again at the New York Film Festival later this Fall before it hits theaters on December 8, courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
So how will “Poor Things” fare against other in-competition titles on the Lido? Follow The Playlist’s coverage of the Venice Film Festival here to find out. Take a look at a new featurette for “Poor Things” about Bella Baxter below.