Emma Stone finds 'being alive fascinating' in surreal Poor Things trailer

Emma Stone is stranger in a strange land in the first teaser for Poor Things, the latest feature from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos.

Poor Things marks a reunion between Stone and Lanthimos, who directed the Oscar-winning actress in 2018's The Favourite. Based on Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel of the same name, the film stars Stone as Bella Baxter, a dead woman brought back to life by the unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). As the teaser's electrified opening portends, the story contains several echoes of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Searchlight Pictures Emma Stone in 'Poor Things'

Hungry to learn more of the world, Bella runs off with the slick lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), who you can see sporting a stylish mustache in the trailer. They embark on a whirlwind adventure across the continents, where Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

"I am finding being alive fascinating," she says in the footage.

As you can see in the trailer, Poor Things has a very distinctive visual style. It's full of loud, unnatural colors and sharp contrasts, with painterly settings that blur eras. In other words, Lanthimos' new film is an aesthetic departure from The Favourite, which evoked its historical setting with candlelight like Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon.

Stone last starred as the iconic Disney villain of 101 Dalmatians in 2021's Cruella. She was previously announced to star in Damien Chazelle's Babylon and Mark Mylod's The Menu, but was replaced by Margot Robbie and Anya Taylor-Joy, respectively.

Poor Things isn't even the only upcoming cinematic collaboration between Stone, Dafoe, and Lanthimos. They're also working together on the film And, which at one point required Stone to slap Dafoe about 20 times. He was fine with it.

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