Poor Things – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Poor Things

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2023

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Visually stunning, intellectually ambitious, and absolutely not for your kids—or most adults, frankly.

7.8/10

92%

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Poor Things

movie

R, 2023

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Visually stunning, intellectually ambitious, and absolutely not for your kids—or most adults, frankly.

7.8

92%

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7.8/10

92%

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Screenwise Verdict

Look, Poor Things is artistically ambitious and Emma Stone is phenomenal. Critics loved it. It's visually stunning and intellectually provocative.

But let's be crystal clear: this is not remotely appropriate for kids or teens, and honestly, most adults won't want to sit through it either. The 'strong and pervasive sexual content' warning isn't exaggerating—there's graphic nudity and explicit sex throughout, combined with a premise that's inherently uncomfortable (woman with child's mind engaging in prostitution).

If you're into arthouse cinema, appreciate Lanthimos's weird style, and can handle extremely adult content, you might find this fascinating. But if you saw it pop up on Hulu and thought 'oh, an Emma Stone movie,' be warned: this is as far from La La Land as you can get.

The WISE score reflects what it is—a film with artistic merit but absolutely zero place in a family media library.

Age Fit

This is strictly for adults 18+ who have high tolerance for explicit sexual content and transgressive themes. Even among adults, many will find it too graphic or disturbing. This is not a film for teens, period, despite some claiming maturity—the content is genuinely extreme.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

This is fundamentally a story about sexual exploitation and awakening told through a protagonist with the mind of a child in an adult body. While Bella's journey toward autonomy has thematic merit, the film depicts her engaging in explicit sexual activity while cognitively childlike—a deeply uncomfortable dynamic that undermines any wholesome messaging about self-discovery. The tone is deliberately provocative and transgressive, not emotionally healthy for family viewing.

Imaginative

Yorgos Lanthimos creates a visually stunning, wildly original steampunk fairy tale that defies conventional storytelling. The fantastical premise of reanimation, the surreal production design, absurdist humor, and Emma Stone's fearless performance combine into something genuinely inventive. It's bizarre, bold, and unapologetically weird—the kind of film that expands what cinema can be, even if it's not for everyone.

Safe

Rated R for 'strong and pervasive sexual content, graphic nudity, disturbing material, gore, and language.' The film contains prolonged full-frontal nudity, explicit sex scenes throughout, graphic surgical imagery, violence, and mature themes of prostitution and exploitation. Common Sense Media rates it 17+. This is emphatically not safe for children or teens, and even many adults will find the content shocking or disturbing. Multiple parent warnings across platforms emphasize this is adults-only content.

Enriching

For mature audiences, Poor Things offers substantive exploration of bodily autonomy, female agency, Victorian-era sexual politics, and the construction of self. Emma Stone's performance is masterful, and the film raises genuine questions about power, consent, and liberation. It's intellectually ambitious and rewards thoughtful viewing. However, the explicit content overshadows the themes for most viewers, and the shock value can feel gratuitous rather than necessary.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Emma Stone delivers a fearless, career-best performance that's genuinely transformative
Wildly imaginative steampunk production design and surreal visual storytelling that's unlike anything else
Raises substantive questions about bodily autonomy, female agency, and self-determination in a patriarchal society
Yorgos Lanthimos's signature absurdist style creates something genuinely original and artistically bold
Strong critical acclaim (92% RT, 88 Metacritic) from those who appreciate transgressive cinema

⚠

What to Watch For

Graphic, prolonged sexual content and full-frontal nudity throughout—this is not subtle or implied
Deeply uncomfortable premise: protagonist has mind of a child while engaging in explicit sexual activity
Disturbing surgical imagery, violence, and gore that some will find genuinely upsetting
Themes of prostitution, exploitation, and abuse presented in provocative, non-traditional ways
Even many adults will find this too much—it's polarizing by design

Conversation Starters

"This one's not for family discussion—it's an adults-only film that requires mature processing"
"If you watched it with a partner: What did you make of how the film handled Bella's agency versus exploitation?"
"How did the surreal, fairy-tale style affect your reading of the darker themes?"

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