Poor Things is worth seeing!

Poor Things is a surrealist love-poem written for Rationalists that almost works, except it totally flubs the ending. The protag is basically an autistic Rationalist girl, and she's delightful and hilarious to watch the whole way through. It's very much done with love in a "our people laughing at ourselves" sort of way. Not a "normies mocking us" way.

Watching a rat-girl figuring out what she wants and how to get, while navigating all the weird normy rules of politeness and social decorum is really great. It’s hilarious, it’s heartwarming, it’s every “Yes, omg, exactly that!” moment you had growing up, but she gets to stick up for herself and win sometimes using the power of autism. I felt like someone who really really gets what it’s like to be us wrote this, and it was wonderful to see. I want so much more of it!

The ending sucked though. Commenting on that next, but be aware that it CONTAINS SPOILERS
...
...
spoilers below
...
...
So basically, the story promises us a whole lot and never delivers on the promise. Doesn't even come close to delivering on the promise. Just kinda forgets the promise is there at all and hopes we won't notice that it totally walked away from the promise.

Bella is learning about humans, about How To Social, and about the world, so she can SAVE THE WORLD. So she can affect major changes to make things better in some way. Every step in the movie is in service of moving to that goal.
Then in the final act she's kidnapped, turns the tables on her kidnapper, comforts her dying dad, and takes over the family business. And.... that's it.

Literally *anyone* could do that. Nothing in the entire progression of her arc was needed to get to this. Her learning about society and how it fails people like her, or learning what she really wants, or finding out about Human Suffering... none of that matters. Her drive to make the world better or even make *herself* better are quietly forgotten. She just takes over being the surgeon and running the house. Like ANY INTERCHANGBLE CHARCTER AT ALL could have done.

You promised all these awesome things and then... nothing? It's just evaporated? Whhhhyyyyyy?? It felt like the movie just abruptly stopped about 5 minutes before the credits rolled and we got some stock Hollywood Snoozefest instead that just happened to use the same actors.

Come to think of it, the last act really does feel like it was written by someone else. A brand new villain is introduced abruptly, and what he seeks to destroy is Bella’s femininity! This whole story has been about her autism/rationality. A well-written story will have a villain that seeks to excise THAT part of her. The part that makes her weird and strange and unable to conform to wider society. That is the heart of Bella and the heart of all the conflict in the movie so far. A villain written by a competent author that is staying on-theme would seek to lobotomize her or magically instill social-conforming-instincts or something. A villain seeking to mutilate her genitals is just completely missing the boat! Yeah, it’s horrific, but it’s random and inartful. Feels like it was wedged in by someone who doesn’t get anything about the movie or the character at all.

I really hope the book had a different (better!) ending.

Also, in the 2nd-to-last scene where she walks into her father’s dying room and we get a close-up on her face as she's watching her father take his last breaths and we see the light of recognition in her eyes, we the audience at that point all realize "oh shit, she's gonna put his brain in The General's body!!" And he even sets it up perfectly by telling her with his last words how all his life people looked at him with fear and revulsion because he had such a mangled face/body. Bella doesn't say anything and all of us are smiling thinking "Oh man, he doesn't even know he's about to wake up to be youthful and pretty and have a body that works great! This is gonna be the best!"

And then she *doesn't*??? And we're just supposed to pretend that Bella wouldn't have INSTANTLY THOUGHT EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE ALL THINKING, and given him the best gift ever???? AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH

Still, the rest is great. Still def worth watching IMO for every minute before the ending.