Our first look at "Poor Things"

May 11, 2023 7:01 AM

Alasdair Gray, who passed away in 2019, was and is one of Scotland's most prolific authors. Yet in spite of his lifetime of work, none of his novels have ever been adapted into a feature film until now. The teaser for "Poor Things", directed by Yorgo Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone, has dropped.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI (20 comments total)

I've read Lanark but not this - guessing it might be easier to adapt than that novel.

He's such a presence in Glasgow. I'll be interested to see if this film adaptation has the same oblique references to the city.
posted by treblekicker at 7:13 AM on May 11, 2023

Interesting… I love his books. To make a movie from a book which uses an endnote to conclude the story would be something to see.
posted by njohnson23 at 7:19 AM on May 11, 2023

Now that I’ve watched that trailer… ?!?!?!????
posted by njohnson23 at 7:25 AM on May 11, 2023

That teaser looks fantastic, thanks! And his artwork linked in the obit post is amazing, too. Adding him to my to-read list.
posted by mediareport at 7:47 AM on May 11, 2023

I love Lanthimos and after watching this trailer, I'm totally onboard.
posted by octothorpe at 7:50 AM on May 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

I love Alasdair Gray's work and have read Poor Things a number of times. (It's a bit easier for a casual read than Lanark.) This looks good! Would watch! It does not look anything like how I picture the story and it doesn't look at all right, IM sincere O, for the feel or moral valence of the film....but it doesn't look stupid at all, it looks weird and off-kilter in a way that I can see chiming really well with the story. I was expecting some kind of extremely sincere, marketing-y, tourist-y grey middle class pretty movie with accurate period detail that would utterly kill the spirit of the story, and I watched with trepidation. This looks like it will sit happily next to the book instead of trying to kill and obliterate it.

Also, I usually haaaaaaaaate the casting in films that try to adapt good books because it's always extremely blandly good-looking people making serious, small-featured, classy expressions, but this looks pretty plausible.
posted by Frowner at 7:51 AM on May 11, 2023 [6 favorites]

Literally just finished Lanark last week. I had never read anything by Gray, and was floored by how much I loved it. Putting this on my reading list, and definitely seeing this film.
posted by nushustu at 8:03 AM on May 11, 2023

Oh wow, this looks so good. I'm a huge Lanthimos fan and will most definitely be seeing this!
posted by heyho at 10:56 AM on May 11, 2023

Lanark is a fantastic novel, truly one of my favorites. I will absolutely watch this.
posted by thivaia at 11:53 AM on May 11, 2023

I have mixed feelings about Ottessa Mosfegh, but I hope he's still going to make thie My Year of Rest & Relaxation movie.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:54 AM on May 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

I can't see how well it works wrested away from Glasgow, though. It is a delightfully weird story, and I hope it's strong enough without its backbone
posted by scruss at 12:44 PM on May 11, 2023

The Poor Thing is a fable by Stevenson. I must confess I'd not made the connection before, and haven't read the Gray novel. It can be found here (you'll need to scroll down, it's not directly linkable), if you're curious.
posted by Grangousier at 1:50 PM on May 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have never read anything by this author! Any recommendations for a good place to start?
posted by skycrashesdown at 5:46 PM on May 11, 2023

Shit I had no idea he died.
posted by aspersioncast at 6:01 PM on May 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh Grangousier, that was a lovely story to read aloud. Thank you for sharing it.
posted by ovenmitt at 7:05 PM on May 11, 2023

That's a hell of a fable Grangousier - I'm always finding new and amazing things by Stevenson (The Bottle Imp is another of my favourites - it is a little on the same lines).

I found this 2008 articles about Alistair Grey's books. It mentions "A film adaptation of Poor Things, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Carlyle and Jim Broadbent, went into production in 2002" - I can't see any record of that having been released - so I wonder if this film is the final product of that intention?

The Wikipedia page on Lanark says the book was adapted as a play in 2015 - I'm not sure it could ever be shoe horned into a film - but would like to see somebody, somehow, have a go at it as a TV show.
posted by rongorongo at 5:20 AM on May 12, 2023

I knew this was coming and was apprehensive given how much I love the book (though Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Defoe as the lead cast, plus Yorgos Lanthimos as director, assuaged that somewhat).

Frowner: it looks weird and off-kilter in a way that I can see chiming really well with the story. I was expecting some kind of extremely sincere, marketing-y, tourist-y grey middle class pretty movie with accurate period detail that would utterly kill the spirit of the story

Yes, definitely. Love the weirdo phantasmagorical vibe. That said, while I'm wary of the period piece tendencies, Glasgow is so embedded in the book that a Poor Things which doesn't much feature Glasgow is going to ring a little bit off. I know that while for the most part it was filmed in Hungary there was some location stuff in Glasgow. In pretty much all Gray's books, his Glasgow is alive and very specific - in this case, Godwin Baxter's house in Park Circus (which I used to be able to see from my bedroom window when I lived in a flat a couple of hundred yards away), Kelvingrove Park and various other locations. I just hope that they're part of it.


rongorongo:The Wikipedia page on Lanark says the book was adapted as a play in 2015 - I'm not sure it could ever be shoe horned into a film - but would like to see somebody, somehow, have a go at it as a TV show.

Pretty sure that there was a BBC attempt to adapt Lanark as a TV series back in the 1990s though I think it foundered for the understandable reason that the budget would have to be wild. I saw the 2015 play and it was fantastic.

Also (first also): from mediareport's comment linking to the Paris Review piece, Gray did this Glasgow skyline/cityscape when he was 15 (!!!). I totally love how the "A. G." signature at the bottom left is completely recognisable as Gray even at such an early age.

Also (second also): pretty much everyone in Glasgow has an Alasdair Gray story, so here's mine
posted by Len at 11:05 AM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

This looks wild. Reminds me a bit of Spike Jonze but with more of an edge.

Has anyone seen Lanthimos' The Killing of a Sacred Deer? I didn't recognize his name, but then, having looked him up, realized I'd seen (and enjoyed) both The Lobster and especially The Favourite.
posted by the sobsister at 11:17 AM on May 12, 2023

I thought Sacred Deer was really good - a dark fable
posted by crocomancer at 11:48 AM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'd be more impressed by this if the name Alasdair Gray occurred in it even once.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 6:23 PM on May 14, 2023