Composed of three intercut narratives inspired by the novels of Jean Genet, the gay themes in Poison marked an emerging "queer new wave" in cinema. The film received generally positive reviews.
Narratives
Three stories intertwine throughout the film, named in the closing credits:[4]
Hero: A seven-year-old shoots his abusive father and then flies away, depicted in the style of a 1980s tabloid televisionnews magazine.
Horror: A scientist isolates the "elixir of human sexuality" and, after drinking it, is transformed into a murderous leper, portrayed in the style of a psychotropic 1960s sci-fi horror B movie.
Homo: A prisoner finds himself attracted to another inmate, reunited after meeting as youth in a juvenile facility, with scenes alternating between a gritty prison film and recollections evoked as pastoral fantasy.
The film received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10.The website's consensus reads: "Claustrophobic and quirky horror, this is a decently dirty debut for director Todd Haynes."[10]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 67 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[11]
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