Poor Things

Ba.

Ba! Ba!

Ba, ba, ba.

- Bye. - Ba, ba.

A pile of organs without the spark of self from a brain...

or the pump of blood from a heart.

Just a butcher's tray for a Sunday lunch.

Now, who would like to reconstruct the organs?

And who can tell human from animal, if there is a difference?

Come, come.

You did puzzles as children, did you not?

Is it just me, or is it devilishly hard to concentrate when the monster's talking?

He is an extraordinary surgeon.

His research is groundbreaking. His father founded this place.

Have you mistaken yourself as included in this conversation, Max McCandles?

Your physical proximity to us does not make it so.

Fuck off, old pal. Get yourself a suit.

You really think that's where the liver goes, sir?

Can I ask what is the purpose of putting them back in, sir?

My amusement.

Mr. Max McCandles!

Walk with me at the end of the lesson.

Your paper.

You liked it, sir?

It showed signs of a conventional mind straining hard to almost touch mediocrity.

- Thank you. - I need someone. An assistant on a project.

I would love to.

- Are you a religious man? - I believe in God.

- Me or the deity? - Humorous, as you're often known as the...

It is a joke of my own making.

I do not need it explicated for me.

The very devil's work.

Have you thought of growing a beard, sir?

I look like a big dog in a cravat.

Kids like dogs.

This job.

Yes. Come.

God! God.

God.

- Hello. - Hello.

Bella, this is Mr. McCandles.

Hello, Bella.

- Bud. - Blood.

- Bud. - Blood.

- Blood. - Marvelous.

I'm fine. I'm fine.

What a very pretty retard.

She suffered a brain injury.

I repaired it.

Her mental age and her body are not quite synchronized.

Language is coming. She is progressing at an accelerated pace.

She is stunning.

I need to meticulously note her progression.

You will do this for me?

It would be my honor.

Wee!

Wee!

Yes. It is exciting, Bella.

"Wee." I believe she's doing...

Mrs. Prim!

Wee.

Do you not like kippers?

I am quite partial to them, actually.

I find them to be nice in the morning...

Bella cut, too?

Just dead ones for Bella.

Just dead.

Just dead.

Just dead.

Squish! Squish, squish.

Chog!

Chog!

Run!

Chog.

She gathers 15 words a day.

Her coordination is unstable at best.

In the evenings, there's progress.

Her hair grows one inch every two days.

- I have a hair diagram here. - Excellent.

You may go. See you tomorrow.

Sir, where did she come from?

I believe your job is collecting data.

When I add inane questions to it, I'll let you know.

"And so, when they returned from the wood...

"she was reunited with her Mummy and Daddy.

"That night, for dinner, they ate cake until they were sick.

"They were so happy to be back together."

You me Daddy, God?

- I... - Prim say you not be.

Bella nowhere girl.

Where that be? Nowhere?

You are an orphan.

Your parents died.

Then you cut parents up, God?

No.

They were my friends.

They were brave explorers...

and they were killed in a landslide in South America.

They pushed the boundaries of what was known...

and they paid the price.

But that is the only way to live, Bella.

They sent you to me to care for you.

Dead?

I'm afraid so, my darling.

Poor Bella.

But love God.

Sleep here.

No.

Good night, dear Bella.

This, parents.

Peru, yes.

Why you pen book every nut?

I must note down your nutritional intake.

How many?

Tell Bella other places.

That's Lisbon, Portugal.

The south of France. The Alps.

Australia.

Far away and dangerous, in both people and animal.

Bella want look at world.

Just...

Bella.

Bella, I don't think we're allowed up here.

Let's just...

Bella.

Bella.

No.

Bella, this is dangerous.

Bella.

No, Bella.

God.

Outside must go.

Outside? No, we work.

Cut fingers?

Candles take me. Candles.

Of course I can. If...

No.

Yes. Out!

Has she ever been outside?

No.

I have created a perfectly entertaining and safe world for Bella.

Now.

- Bella. - Now!

Now!

Bella.

You know, so many things outside can kill you, Bella.

Kill dead?

Snakes, carriages, sharp-faced birds, earthquakes...

inhalation of toxic grass seeds.

Bella.

Bella.

Bella. Look.

- Kill it. - What?

Why you funny thumbs, God?

Once when I was very small...

my father pinned my thumbs into a small iron case...

to see whether he could retard the growth cycle of bones.

Now, the pain was so great...

to stop myself from weeping...

I would stare deeply into my other fingers...

and simply by observation...

begin to parse out the epidemiological elements.

When he came back...

to his surprise, I was smiling.

Good God.

He was a man of unconventional mind.

Time to go.

A storm approaches.

Why must you scare her so?

She's an experiment...

and I must control the conditions...

or our results will not be pure.

Stop! God, we go!

No, Bella.

Bella want walk in ice cream.

No.

Bella wants!

My face. People scared of God.

Laugh at God.

God lovely.

Like dog face.

Quite.

- Stop! Me walk. - No!

No now? No never?

Just no.

- Bella! - No!

- No! No! No! - Bella!

No!

- Sorry. Sorry. - No!

No! No!

I'm sorry, my darling.

Mother of God.

What did you do to her?

Why are you hiding her?

Tell me what all this means, or I'll go to the police.

I shall. For it is a happy tale.

It is rare to get a body, albeit dead, but so close to life.

Rigor had not set in.

The body had hardly cooled.

No pulse.