Best Actress Challenge: Emma Stone, Poor Things (2023)
"I must go punch that baby"
Hey folks!
Happy new year, and as promised, welcome to the very first post of my Best Actress Challenge series.
Here’s the plan: every week I’ll (re)watch a film that won Best Actress at the Oscars, going back one year at a time until I reach the inaugural recipient, Janet Gaynor in 1927/28, or until I burn out (betting on the latter).
Why Best Actress? It’s my favorite category every time awards season comes around. I love watching actresses serve top-tier actressing, be it devastating monologues or high camp moments. I’ll also look into how the criteria for winning Best Actress has evolved over the decades, and examine how external factors come into play in the Best Actress race each year.
Let’s begin with our latest winner: Emma Stone for her role as Bella Baxter in the absurdist comedy Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.
(PS: I prefer sticking to film year than ceremony year, so Stone’s win is tagged as 2023 for this series)
First impression
Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos previously collaborated on the period comedy-drama The Favourite, a film I absolutely adore and regard as an all-time favorite. Naturally, the prospect of them teaming up again felt like a dream.
After Poor Things premiered at Venice and won the Golden Lion, it became my most anticipated film of 2023. I was convinced I’d LOVE the film.
Until I didn’t.
My first watch of Poor Things was disappointing. I left the theater feeling disconnected from the film. It was rather embarrassing to admit, especially since my audience was laughing and cheering at every other scene.
“What made people chuckle made me wince, what they thought was bold looked reckless to me, and what was championed as female empowerment felt more like a reductive male fantasy.”
I wrote this in my Letterboxd review, and looking back, boy was it scathing. I don’t usually go hard on films, especially something so outwardly ambitious, but something about Poor Things triggered me. Watching Bella and her childlike antics—prancing around cluelessly while men took advantage of her—made me uncomfortable.
Perhaps even more unsettling was hearing the audience’s hysterical laughter over and over. To me, it felt like they were laughing at Bella, not with her. The humor was at her expense; her vulnerability and naivety exploited for cheap laughs. Disheartened by Bella’s arc, I struggled to reconcile this discomfort with the film’s supposed empowering message.
Rewatch
Perhaps it’s the enjoyment of watching it on my own, away from the distraction of a boisterous crowd. Or perhaps my perception is now colored by Stone’s Oscar win. Whatever it is, the film became more palatable to me on a rewatch.
I remember many declared this to be Stone’s career-best performance, but I wasn’t convinced. Stone always had a knack for quirky comedic roles, from her early days in Zombieland and Easy A to The Favourite (still her best performance to me), so I didn’t think that playing Bella was a particularly difficult task for her.
This time, I paid closer attention to the physicality of Stone’s performance. She shared that while on set, she didn’t focus too much on precise mannerisms. Instead, the cast played theater games during rehearsals to ease the awkwardness, allowing everyone to be free in their movements while shooting.
Certainly, that choice shines through in her portrayal of Bella. I can imagine other actresses trying very hard to perfect Bella’s quirks, and thus their Bella would’ve been overly mannered. For Stone, her gait, gestures, and the way she contorts her face feel purposeful, but not mechanical. I can tell that every movement emerges from a genuine sense of discovery that Bella has.
With this rewatch, I found myself appreciating Poor Things as a story about growth and selfhood. Bella’s self-actualization journey resonates more this time, though I still feel like its treatment of broader topics like sex work, female bodily autonomy, and capitalism to be muddled. I guess if you don’t think too much about it, it’s an enjoyable film. It’s definitely pretty to look at too, from the costumes to the set design, and the score is very fine work as well.
Somewhat absolved, I guess!
The nominees
Who won what:
Golden Globes Best Actress (Drama): Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Golden Globes Best Actress (Comedy/Musical): Emma Stone, Poor Things
Critics Choice Best Actress: Emma Stone, Poor Things
SAG Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
BAFTA Best Actress: Emma Stone, Poor Things
Oscars: Emma Stone, Poor Things
The Best Actress race that year was a showdown between two Stones as soon as the envelopes were opened at the Globes. As with many years, the genre split at the Globes narrowed the race down to the Drama winner (Gladstone) and the Comedy winner (Stone).
Tension heightened as the two split the industry precursors: Gladstone took SAG, while Stone won BAFTA. SAG often responds to powerful narratives, and Gladstone was campaigning to be the first Native American Best Actress winner. Meanwhile, BAFTA loves their highbrow festival films with European sensibilities, so Stone’s win there was no surprise.
It was a nail-biter until the end. I placed my money on Gladstone after her SAG win, which was the final award show before the Oscars. But in the end, Stone emerged victorious, and judging by her expression when they read her name, even she was shocked.
Nonetheless, Gladstone was a good sport throughout the season. Her heartfelt SAG acceptance speech is a standout moment of the season. Stone, too, was great with her humble and slightly self-deprecating speeches, particularly at Critics Choice where she gave a beautiful shoutout to her fellow nominees.
Of course, no awards season is complete without its share of snubs. Margot Robbie’s omission for Barbie was the biggest headline on nominations morning. One can never forget this cringe tweet from #HillaryBarbie. You can’t make this stuff up.
![Hilary Chimes in … Spielberg's Daughter Calls Sexism [Updated] — World of Reel](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H84T!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85c81aee-b104-4ae4-bdec-f6960c2762a2_1170x556.jpeg "Hilary Chimes in … Spielberg's Daughter Calls Sexism [Updated] — World of Reel")
I guess many saw Robbie as merely the straight man to Ryan Gosling’s bombastic Ken, but I’ll die on the hill that Robbie delivered an incredibly nuanced performance (and better than Gosling), and what she did was so much more than playing a pretty doll. She would’ve been a fantastic nominee, but I digress.
Another notable miss was Greta Lee. While I love Past Lives, it’s an understated indie film and I understand why her subtle work in the film went unnoticed in the end.
Other performances I loved but stood no chance: Natalie Portman, May December; Michelle Williams, Showing Up; Vivian Oparah, Rye Lane; Jessica Chastain, Memory; Cynthia Erivo, Drift; Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Origin.
Conclusion
Stone might not have blown me away initially, but after this rewatch, I liked her performance a lot more. Though I think I still prefer her Oscar-winning turn in La La Land (hot take, I know… *hides*). We’ll see if my opinion changes when we get to 2016.
With that said, my personal pick would’ve been Sandra Hüller’s titanic performance in the French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall. The film was my favorite of 2023, and Hüller’s commanding presence absolutely sold the film for me. With the film being partially non-English and Hüller a foreign actress from outside the Hollywood bubble, her road to an Oscar was always going to be an uphill battle.
As for Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, while she was decent, I found myself rooting for her more than her performance itself. I suspect the Academy might’ve felt the same; her arguably borderline supporting role, while powerful, didn’t command the screen in an all-encompassing way Stone and Hüller did in their respective films.
Ultimately, I’m still thrilled for Stone. At only 36 years old, she’s already building a phenomenal career: two lead Oscars, a stacked filmography, and a growing producing portfolio. She was a producer on Poor Things, and this past year she produced several indie films like I Saw the TV Glow, A Real Pain, and Problemista. Kudos to her.
If anything, I take Stone’s win as a triumph for the weirdos. Poor Things is an unconventional Best Actress vehicle and not what I’d call Oscar bait at all—she’s not caked in makeup, she’s not playing a historic figure, nor does she scream and cry all the time. Her victory is a good sign for offbeat comedy films, proving that they can stand alongside serious dramas after all.
Do you think Emma Stone deserved the Oscar for Poor Things?
Up next
For 2022, we have Michelle Yeoh’s historic win for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Keep your googly eyes peeled! 👀
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