Salu's Movie Picks: 'Poor Things' (2023) Quiz

Answer: Yorgos Lanthimos

The screenplay to the movie was written by Tony McNamara. It was based on the 1992 book 'Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer' by Alasdair Gray. The score to the movie was composed by Jerskin Fendrix. Lanthimos was nominated for an Oscar for his work as director on this movie.

The movie itself was nominated for Best Picture. Emma Stone won her second Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in this movie as Bella Baxter.

Answer: By hitting him on the nose

Near the start of the movie, the surgeon Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) asks medical student Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) to walk with him after class one day. Godwin takes Max to his home while inviting him to work with him on a special project. After they enter the house, Bella runs to greet Godwin and gives him a tight hug. Godwin introduces Max to Bella. Max greets Bella with a hello, but instead of returning the greeting, Bella hits him on his nose and draws some blood. Godwin then tells Max that he needs him to keep track of Bella's progress meticulously. Max agrees to this and takes the job after being fascinated by her on meeting her the first time.

Answer: He sedates her using an anesthetic-laced cloth.

Godwin and McCandles take Bella out for the first time ever after she throws a tantrum in Godwin's lab by breaking things. They go out to a nature trail with what seems to be a lake and Bella enjoys lying on the fallen leaves. McCandles picks up a frog in his hand and shows it to Bella.

She asks him to kill it and does it herself by crushing the frog in between Max's hands. They then have a small picnic and on the way back Bella throws a tantrum as she wants to get ice cream.

Answer: Wedderburn

Lawyer Duncan Wedderburn is portrayed by Mark Ruffalo, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Duncan is asked by Dr. Godwin to create a contract of marriage for Bella and Max, as earlier he had suggested they get married. Max then proposes to Bella and she accepts. Surprised by the strict terms of the contract, Duncan gets intrigued by the woman who is at the centre of it.

He excuses himself from Godwin's presence in the pretext of using the toilet and runs to meet Bella. He sneaks into the house later on to ask Bella to go on an adventure with him to Lisbon. Godwin initially disagrees to Bella's request to travel with Duncan but after she puts on a tantrum, Godwin allows her to go, giving her some extra money.

Answer: "That is super!"

Bella goes out exploring the city of Lisbon when Duncan falls asleep. She eats tarts, hears a woman sing and play a musical instrument and also witnesses an argument between a man and a woman. When Bella comes back, Duncan questions her on her whereabouts and Bella says that she likes exploring. Duncan tells Bella not to go out on her own without him.

Later on, they have a meal with his friends Kitty and Gerald. At the table, Bella spits something out as she found it revolting and says somethings which are not very polite in Duncan's opinion. She then goes on to try to punch a crying baby and is stopped by Duncan. He then takes her aside and tells her to change her behavior and stick to using the phrases 'Delighted', 'How marvelous!' and 'How do they make the pastry so crisp?'. Bella then slaps Duncan and they later return to the table where Bella uses these three phrases in really funny ways.

Answer: Dancing

Bella goes to a bar and tries alcohol which she seems to enjoy. She later comes back to Duncan where a hotel guest greets her as Victoria Blessington. Bella and Duncan later dance which Bella seems to enjoy. She then tells Duncan that a man was repeatedly blinking at her. Duncan picks a fight with the man while Bella continues dancing. Duncan and Bella then have an argument during which Bella throws a drink at him.

Bella later tells Duncan that she had a sexual adventure with another man. Duncan describes his displeasure at this which confuses Bella.

Duncan later takes Bella on a ship in an attempt to control her behavior, telling her that he wants to give her a new adventure. She is not happy with this and spends a lot of her time sulking around Duncan.

Answer: Throw Martha overboard

Bella introduces Martha von Kurtzroc (Hanna Schygulla) and Harry Astley (Jerrod Carmichael) to Duncan after she meets them and they show interest in her. Duncan proposes to Bella but she tells him that she is engaged to Max McCandles. She tells him that she is with him for fun after he reminds her that she ran away with him to get away from him. Disheartened to hear this, Duncan goes to the casino.

Martha and Harry introduce Bella to philosophy which piques her interest and she begins to read Emerson. Martha suggests she read Goethe. Duncan becomes increasingly unhappy with this new-found friendship and starts drinking and gambling a lot. While expressing his displeasure at this friendship to Bella, he threatens to throw Martha overboard. She dares him to do so. Duncan tries to do this but is stopped by sailors on the ship.

Answer: Alexandria

Bella tells Harry that she does not want to be a cruel person but when she is with Duncan, she can't control that side of her. She tells him that she wants to improve that side of herself. Harry then tells her that he will show her what the world is really like. At Alexandria, Harry takes Bella out and shows her the struggles of the poor. Bella tells him that they should them but Harry explains how that is not the best idea. Bella then runs down the stairs but is held back by Harry. Bella gets very emotional thinking about the plight of the poor people she just saw. She then collects the money Duncan made through gambling and asks the ships crew members to give it to the poor. The crew members falsely agree to give the money as she requested.

Duncan comes back to their room and thinks that they have been robbed. Bella tells him that she took it and gave it to the poor people. Duncan becomes very angry at this. The ship's crew then informs Duncan that they do not have any more money in their account to continue their travels on the ship and that they will have to get off at the next port.

Answer: Toinette

In Paris, Duncan becomes exceedingly angry at Bella for bringing to a situation where they have no money. Bella tells Duncan that she will find them a hotel but she comes across a brothel. She meets Madame Swiney there who offers her a job as a working girl and she accepts it as she is in need of funds. Bella gets something to eat for herself and Duncan. Duncan questions Bella on where she got the money and on revealing that she worked at the brothel, Duncan gets very angry. Bella then abandons Duncan and continues working under Madame Swiney, who becomes somewhat of a mentor to her. At the brothel, Bella meets fellow working girl Toinette (Suzy Bemba) with whom she explores a new side of herself. Toinette introduces Bella to socialism and presents her with some radical ideas about life, work and sexuality.

As Godwin becomes ill and is dying, Max comes to Paris to find Bella. He finds Duncan in an asylum which leads him to Bella. He takes her back and she reconciles with Godwin and Max. Max and Bella then plan to get married again but their marriage is suddenly interrupted by General Alfie Blessington (Christopher Abbott) and Duncan. Alfie believes Bella is still Victoria and takes her back to her their home where Bella slowly realises why Victoria killed herself.

Answer: He has an animal's brain transplanted into him.

Alfie becomes exceedingly cruel to Bella and she starts to detest him. He tries to drug her and starts to threaten her with a gun. Bella fights back and he shoots himself. Bella goes back to Godwin and Max and Godwin dies at the end of the movie with Bella and Max by his side. Before this, Godwin and Max transplant a goat's brain into Alfie and we see him grazing on grass at the end of the movie. Bella and Max start over again in Godwin's house and we see Toinette living with them.

Margaret Qualley appears in the movie as Felicity, another girl who Godwin has transplanted a new brain into. This occurs after Bella has gone away with Duncan. Godwin and Max try to train Felicity and try to keep track of her progress in the same way that they did for Bella.