Fusing Frankenstein, Alice In Wonderland, Pygmalion and Emmanuelle, Poor Things is a beautifully deranged beast from the minds of Greek Weird Wave director Yorgos Lanthimos and his screenwriting partner Tony McNamara (who collaborated so fruitfully on The Favourite). Based on the brilliant book by Glaswegian author Alasdair Gray, it takes a woman with the brain of a baby on a sexual and existential adventure and sees this curious creature evolve into a heroine for the ages.

In a daring and painstaking performance that nails every note, Emma Stone plays a suicide victim reanimated by pioneering scientist Dr Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). With her brain replaced by that of her gestating infant, the newly monikered Bella Baxter begins her development from scratch. Ramy Youssef plays Godwin’s assistant Max McCandles, who falls in love with Bella, while Mark Ruffalo is never better as shameless cad Duncan Wedderburn, who steals this wonderful woman away.

McNamara has crafted a screenplay in keeping with the novel’s eccentricity but is even funnier, with cinematographer Robbie Ryan infusing the story with sumptuous, dazzlingly inventive visuals in both monochrome and colour, embellished by costume and production design to die for. We sometimes peer at the action inquisitively, as if through a spyhole, while compositions nod to the ingenuity of early cinema and to fantastical filmmakers like Terry Gilliam, with gorgeous, painterly textures and Van Gogh-esque night skies.

It's a wacky tale for sure, but one that’s furiously, invigoratingly feminist as Bella challenges the status quo at every turn, refuses to accept her place in society and drives a self-professed rapscallion to distraction. Poor Things is a breath of fresh air amidst the over-worthiness of awards season. As he did with The Favourite, Lanthimos combines lunacy and grandeur in one hell of a cinematic package.

Poor Things is in cinemas from Friday 12 January.