Poor Things: Release date, cast, trailer and plot as first reviews land

Emma Stone's new film Poor Things is setting the film industry abuzz months before its official release.

The film had its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in early September where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and took home the Golden Lion, the award given to the best film screened at the event. As a result, Poor Things has already emerged as an early frontrunner for next year's awards season.

Read more: Poor Things Could Win Emma Stone Her Second (and Third) Oscars (Variety, 4-Min read)

With so much talk starting to circle around Yorgos Lanthimos' new movie, which follows his hits The Lobster, The Favourite and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, here is everything that you need to know about the forthcoming drama.

Poor Things release date

Poor Things will be screened at several festivals ahead of its official cinema release. After Venice, the film will play at Telluride Film Festival, New York Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival in the autumn.

But for those hoping to catch the film during its normal theatrical release, they will have to wait a little longer. Poor Things is being released on 12 January, 2024, in the UK and in the US it is being released on 8 December, 2023.

This means that the film is perfectly positioned to be considered for awards season, particularly the Oscars.

Poor Things plot

Lanthimos' new film is a gender-bent take on Frankenstein, where Emma Stone portrays monster Bella Baxter, an unhinged character who is brought back to life by unorthodox scientist Dr Godwin Baxter.

The movie is based on Alasdair Gray's novel of the same name and sees Stone shed any inhibitions in order to fully embrace the role. The actor has previously spoken about having to have "no shame" over filming the more raunchy scenes of the movie.

Read more: Emma Stone's Frankenstein fantasy Poor Things debuts to 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

Poor Things follows Bella under Dr Baxter's tutelage, and she grows eager to continue to learn and grow and runs away with lawyer Duncan Wedderburn in order to do so, free from society's expectations Bella becomes determined to stand for equality and liberation.

Poor Things cast

Poor Things is led by Stone — reteaming with her director on The Favourite — who has been highly praised for her portrayal of Bella with critics calling her performance "astonishing" and "fearless".

Read more: Cillian Murphy already break-away favourite to win Oscar for Oppenheimer

She is joined in the cast by Willem Dafoe, who plays Dr Baxter, and Mark Ruffalo as Wedderburn.

The cast also includes Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Vicki Pepperdine, and Kate Handford amongst others.

Poor Things trailer

A trailer for Poor Things has been released and it shares a glimpse at the drama, which combines body horror and dark comedy to tell Bella's story.

Watch the Poor Things trailer below: