In the entrancing Yorgos Lanthimos comedy Poor Things, Emma Stone plays a brilliant baby. Anyway, that’s the simplest way of describing the Oscar-nominated actress’s star turn as Bella Baxter, a Frankenstein-like fusion of an infant’s fast-growing brain and a grown woman’s body, who ventures out into a technicolor version of Victorian England in order to assert her intellectual and sexual independence. As she maneuvers her way across oceans (and through multiple suitors), she’s confronted with the harshness of human reality—and the beauty inside her own mind. Poor Things is a bizarre, singular work by a singular filmmaker, so it’s not exactly surprising that the movie’s scooped up multiple awards—including Golden Globe wins for Best Motion Picture and Best Actress—and 11 glittering Academy Award nominations.
As Stone put it in her Globe acceptance speech, “I think [Poor Things] is a rom-com, but in the sense of Bella falls in love with life itself. She accepts the good and the bad in equal measure and that really made me look at life differently.” No guarantees you’ll experience similar enlightenment, but if you’re hoping to catch a viewing of Poor Things ahead of the Oscars on March 10, here’s how to watch.
Where can I watch Poor Things?
Get ye to your nearest cinema. As of January 2024, Poor Things is still exclusively playing in theaters after dropping in late December. (Here’s how to grab tickets.) We highly recommend watching on the big screen, but rest assured if you’d prefer a home viewing: Poor Things is almost certain to stream before the Oscars arrive.
Is Poor Things streaming?
Not yet. But it’s likely that the movie will hit streamers in the coming weeks as part of a last push before the Academy Awards ceremony in March. If it follows the trajectory set out by numerous films before it, Poor Things will first be available to rent or purchase on platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV+. Eventually—thanks to the film’s Searchlight Pictures studio distributer—the project should make its way to Hulu. (Since both are owned by the Walt Disney Company, you can thank the House of Mouse for the bundling.)
This story will be updated.
Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.