Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things, a fantastical feminist fable starring Emma Stone as a woman reanimated by a Frankenstein-style Victorian scientist, has won the Golden Lion for best film at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.

In his acceptance speech, Lanthimos said it took a long time to make the movie, his first since 2018 Oscar winner The Favourite, "until the world, until our industry, was ready for this film." He singled out Stone for praise.

"Above all, this film is the central character of Isabella Baxter, this incredible creature, and she wouldn’t exist without Emma Stone, another incredible creature. This film is her, in front and behind the camera."

"Poor Things" tells the tale of a young woman (Emma Stone) brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist (Willem Dafoe) who is then pursued by a millionaire (Mark Ruffalo). Stone, who reaped an Oscar bid for her first collaboration with Lanthimos on "The Favourite," is the current frontrunner in our odds for Best Actress. She won that award back in 2017 for "La La Land", which was written and directed by this year's festival jury head Damien Chazelle. And her co-star in "The Favourite", Olivia Colman won Best Actress here before repeating at the Oscars.

Some other films to earn a golden nod include Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s "Evil Does Not Exist", which took home the Grand Jury Prize.

Cailee Spaeny also snagged the Best Actress trophy for her breakout role in Sofia Coppola’s biopic, "Priscilla". Best Actor was given to Peter Sarsgaard for his role in "Memory" by director Michel Franco.

"Poor Things" will hit up theatres on December 8.

Source: Press Release