Emma Stone in Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures)

 A deliriously twisted tale directed by Yorgos Lanthimos in his follow-up to The Favourite, Poor Things is a sci-fi gothic comedy starring Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a recently deceased and pregnant young woman who is reanimated by a mad scientist, Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). As a radical experiment, he has given her the brain of her unborn child.

In the screenplay by The Favourite co-writer Tony McNamara, based on Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, this Frankenstein fable becomes a coming-of-age saga that explodes societal conventions, particularly the physical kind, as nudity, explicit sex, and grotesqueries abound. Emma Stone’s gutsy performance puts her through the wringer in a complex transformation that takes her from an infantile simpleton behaving violently to a brazen sophisticate becoming more articulate and composed as her brain develops.

In his lab, Godwin (who Bella calls “God”) conducts surgical trials. such as extracting and replacing human organs for scientific research and his own curiosity. However, he virtually imprisons Bella to keep her under watch, which spurs her yearning for autonomy. His care for her is fatherly, despite an outward detachment. “We are men of science. This emotionality is unseemly,” he, uncomfortable in the world of sentiment, says to a naïve associate, Max McCandless (Ramy Youssef).

A highlight in the cast is Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), playing against his usual earnest type, as Duncan Wedderburn, a sleazy and smitten lawyer with a smirk who whisks Bella off on an erotic traveling romp. Throughout Bella’s sexual awakening, there is no shame or judgment. She discovers masturbation, thanks to a cucumber, and refers to sex as “furious jumping.” She blankly asks, “Why do people not just do this all the time?”

Another standout in the top-notch ensemble is petite, gravelly-voiced Kathryn Hunter (The Tragedy of Macbeth) heavily tattooed as a Paris brothel’s madam doling sage advice to a stranded and financially-strapped Bella, who explores sex work with open-eyed curiosity, experiencing degradation, poor hygiene, and very young and old clients.

In 2009, Lanthimos’s idiosyncratic Dogtooth introduced the so-called Greek Weird Wave movement to world cinema. Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Attenberg (which co-starred his future wife, Ariane Labed) reinforced the trend that continues to influence emerging filmmakers, such as Christos Nikou with Apples. The weird is nonstop in Poor Things, the most visually and narratively accomplished work in Lanthimos’s oeuvre.

Hilarious animal amalgamations inhabit Dr. Baxter’s home, such as a French bulldog-chicken combination and a variety of other barnyard denizens. Perfectly suited to the whacky proceedings is the below-the-line team. Experimental musician Jerskin Fendrix’s dissonant soundscape—his first film score—follows Bella’s journey with off-tones and harsh instrumentations that are nevertheless appealing. Fish-eye lenses and occasional black-and-white photography keep the proceedings askew by cinematographer Robbie Ryan (who also lensed The Favourite). Costumer Holly Waddington dresses Bella in exaggerated outfits, with colossal leg-of-mutton sleeves in lurid colors, that reflect multiple eras.

Oscar winner for best actress in La La Land, Stone is tipped to garner a similar nomination for this role that captures her facility for emotional poignancy and physical comedy, as in a sequence of no-holds-barred spontaneous dancing at a Belle Époque hotel. Perhaps more so than any of the other cast and crew, the genuine stars of the film are production designers Shona Heath and James Price, who create a breathtaking and fantastical Victorian environment, striking for both its sumptuous beauty and its distorted vision of the world. In Art Nouveau–inspired set pieces, Bella travels from London to fictional versions of Lisbon, Alexandria, and Paris, meeting kindred spirits down the rabbit hole in an ersatz Alice in Wonderland.

A stunning viewing experience, the 141-minute film is as enjoyable as it is audacious. Since winning the Golden Lion at its Venice Film Festival debut, it has been projected as a year-end awards favorite.

Poor Things will be theatrically on Friday, December 8.