Cinebuffs Recommends
"Let us touch each others' genital pieces."
Oh my, I think I've finally found the perfect woman.
Granted, a little late to the party but no less prepared for the sights that I anticipated being shown. As is usual for a Yorgos Lanthimos picture, I was gawping openly, expecting the unexpected, from the outset.
And of course that's exactly what you get from him. If you've seen The Lobster, Dogtooth or The Killing of a Sacred Deer, you'll know exactly where I'm coming from. The man has such confidence in his own abilities which expands with every new project to such an extent, it is bordering on an arrogant bravado that filters down to his cast. This could be quite embarassing for him if he wasn't so bloody good at it.
Emma Stone must have spent a least a couple of nights finding out exactly which inner thigh had the softest skin when she received the script, before falling over herself to agree to it, such is the dream of a role that Bella Baxter is. If only we could all be as free to say what we think without a care for the consequences. Stone is amazing, to be fair, with a face so straight to convey almost nothing but honesty in all things, both helplessly charming and infuriating in equal measure dependent upon her audience at the time.
She is supported ably by a great cast, not least Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, examples of attempts at male control of an individual woman with a mind of her own and the blind confidence to say and do what she wants in spite of the conventions of polite society. Arguably , it is unfortunate that polite society requires a brain transplant to achieve it.