Film adaptation of Alasdair Gray's Poor Things hailed as 'masterpiece'

Emma Stone's performance in the absurd 19th century-set Poor Things has been hailed as 'amazing and hilarious'.

Film adaptation of Scottish author Alasdair Gray’s novel Poor Things hailed as ‘masterpiece’Searchlight Pictures

A screen adaptation of the iconic Scots novel Poor Things has been hailed as a “masterpiece” after attracting praise from critics and audiences alike ahead of its release this week.

Emma Stone has been described as “beyond-next-level” in her “hilarious” performance as the troubled Bella Baxter, the heroine of the 1992 novel by the late Alasdair Gray.

The wild and experimental plot follows Bella after she is brought back to life by the scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter who has her brain swapped with that of her unborn foetus, resulting in her having the mind of an infant.

Adapted by screenwriter Tony McNamara, the film is directed by absurdist filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, behind The Lobster and Bafta and Oscar winning The Favourite which also starred Stone along with Olivia Coleman.

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival last week to an eight-minute-long standing ovation and has already and has already received multiple five star reviews.

Scheduled for release on September 8 this year, but not in the UK until January, Poor Things boasts an all-star cast including Stone, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Margaret Qualley and Mark Ruffalo.

Set against a dark Victorian Glasgow, the Guardian Fiction Prize-winning novel Poor Things echoes the story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and explores social inequalities, identity and our relationship to culture and heritage.

Poor Things is due in UK cinemas on January 12 next year.

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