Emma Stone‘s Poor Things performance is an all-but-certain lock for a Best Actress nom, and the big Venice win for Yorgos Lanthimos‘ emphatically carnal, Terry Gilliam-like fantasy makes a Best Picture Oscar nom all the more likely.

But don’t kid yourself. The New Academy Kidz will adore Poor Things, but the Searchlight release (opening on 12.8) flirts too closely with hard-R exploitation to win. The over-45s will cultivate reservations. The flagrant bizarre-itude is exciting in a festival environment, but Venice and Telluride elitists need to calm down.

Posted from Telluride: “Poor Things was the biggest conversation flick, but the gymnastic ‘furious jumping’ scenes and the generally bawdy Bride of Frankenstein sexuality will probably diminish enthusiasm among older industry audiences.”

Dissenting viewpoint: Remember a Telluride friendo’s recent opinion that Poor Things is “like Barbie directed by the Marquis de Sade“? He thinks it’s stilted and didactic, and feels profoundly depressed by Poor Things‘ ascension, starting that it affects him “the way the triumph of EEAAO affected you last year.”

HE to Barbie and Poor Things lovers: Are your heads exploding yet, or do you need more time? Don’t look now but both are problematic.