Is Poor Things woke?

Woke messaging is very prominent and often feels forced or shoehorned in. Characters and plot are primarily shaped to serve the ideology. Many viewers feel the agenda overshadows the entertainment.

Wokeness Analysis

Poor Things exemplifies heavily ideological, message-driven cinema where progressive themes dominate the narrative, often at the expense of genuine entertainment or character depth. The film centers on Bella Baxter, a reanimated woman with a fetal brain, whose 'coming-of-age' journey is framed as a radical feminist odyssey of sexual liberation, bodily autonomy, and rejection of patriarchal control. This empowerment arc is propelled by explicit, gratuitous sex scenes—from brothel work to self-exploration with produce—that critics from conservative outlets like National Review and WorthItOrWoke decry as juvenile hedonism masquerading as enlightenment, preachy in its insistence that promiscuity equals freedom. Men are uniformly portrayed as grotesque oppressors: the controlling 'God' figure Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), the sleazy lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), and others who fail to contain Bella's 'liberation.' Subtle digs at religion, capitalism, and socialism as societal lies further embed anti-traditional messaging, with Bella's arc culminating in medicine and a same-sex relationship as the pinnacle of fulfillment. While visually inventive and praised by some as sex-positive, conservative analyses highlight how the plot bends to serve ideology, shoehorning commentary on equality and liberation that feels forced and alienating. Viewers report feeling lectured amid the debauchery, with entertainment overshadowed by an agenda that prioritizes faux-feminist tropes over organic storytelling. This aligns with broader cultural fatigue over films like Barbie, where women's agency is reduced to rejecting norms without deeper socioeconomic critique, making Poor Things a prime example of woke excess in arthouse guise.

Plot

In a steampunk Victorian London, eccentric scientist Godwin Baxter revives a suicide victim's body by transplanting her unborn fetus's brain, creating Bella Baxter with an infant's mind in an adult form. Protected by Godwin and observed by student Max McCandles, the curious Bella escapes with rakish lawyer Duncan Wedderburn on a global adventure. She discovers sex in Lisbon brothels, philosophy in Alexandria, socialism in Paris, evolving from naive childlike figure to independent advocate for equality. Rejecting suitors' control, Bella returns to Godwin's home, pursues medicine, and embraces autonomy with ally Felicity.