Emma Stone has won the Oscar for Best Actress twice. Once was for La La Land (2016) and recently for Poor Things (2023), which was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the Greek filmmaker. This film marks the fourth collaboration between Lanthimos and Stone. Poor Things could be argued as being a science-fiction fantasy. Stone played essentially a female version of Frankenstein's monster, a being that felt alien but was simply a new creation. With this film, Lanthimos has delivered another, possible, sci-fi tale, one that could become seemingly fantastical, and one where Stone is possibly playing an alien being, or at least that's the theory.
Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog and Game Night) co-stars as Teddy Gatz, a blue-collar worker who has a job at a warehouse or shipping center in Georgia, just outside Atlanta. His life hasn't been the same since his mother went into a coma. She fell ill some time ago and she underwent some treatments, but those treatments seemingly made things worse. Those treatments came from the company that is owned by Michelle Fuller, played by Emma Stone. Teddy, therefore, blames Michelle for his mom being in a coma. He goes to the extreme of kidnapping her, but his reasons are not for revenge against Michelle.
Teddy believes that Michelle is an extraterrestrial life-form. He not only believes this, but also he believes she's from the Andromeda galaxy. He also has knowledge of how aliens operate and the extent of some of their abilities. He also believes that they're planning to kill all humans on Earth. He's captured Michelle because he wants to use her as a bargaining chip or as a way to stop the aliens. The film becomes a bit of a back-and-forth where Michelle tries to figure a way to escape, as Teddy figures a way to get Michelle to admit she's an alien, even resorting to torture. Of course, it's not just about admitting she's an alien, he's motivated to save the Earth and he's not going to waver in that belief.
The specific plot could be taken literally, but it feels as though most of this is meant to be a metaphor or a dark satire. The narrative is itself a metaphor, but the film starts with a visual one, that of honeybees. In fact, the title of this film comes from a Greek word referencing the emergence of bees. The commentary in this film though focuses on the phenomena of colony collapse disorder, or CCD. That commentary is meant to highlight what humans are doing to the planet. It's also meant to be a precursor for what humans are doing to themselves. Yet, the plot, which is driven by Teddy's obsession, is that humans aren't actually destroying themselves, as he believes that it's all the fault of the aliens, if they even exist.
Whether aliens exist or not, the film feels like it should underline the point that it's not the fault of aliens but the fault of humanity. The film does give some lip-service to the fact that humans are destroying themselves and the planet. It is stated at one point, but there's also a narrative thread that takes the blame away from humanity. There is a literal scene where the destruction of humanity isn't immediately and directly caused by humans.
Yet, if one removes the alien aspect, what is at play here is the idea of corporate malfeasance. Lanthimos' film does have moments where he pokes fun at corporate culture, and how corporate types don't care about people but instead simply see people as things to be managed in order to benefit productivity and the business' bottom line. Looking at it from that perspective, the destruction of humanity could be viewed as the result of corporate culture and corporate domination, or corporations not caring about people.
Finally, it's notable that this film employs an autistic actor, that of Aidan Delbis who plays Teddy's cousin named Don. Delbis was a member of The Miracle Project, which is a theater and film program for people on the autism spectrum. This is Delbis' feature debut and he's incredible in his role.
Rated R for bloody content, including a suicide, grisly images and language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 58 mins.
Available on Peacock.