Poison is a 2023 Short Film (~17 minutes) directed by Wes Anderson, adapted from the short story of the same name by Roald Dahl. It is one of four Dahl short story adaptations Anderson directed for Netflix that premiered in 2023. The story had previously been adapted as episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Tales of the Unexpected.
Somewhere in India during the time of British rule, the narrator Timber Woods (Dev Patel) comes across his friend Harry Pope (Benedict Cumberbatch) lying still on his bed, claiming that a poisonous krait is lying on his stomach. Woods calls a local doctor, Dr. Ganderbai (Ben Kingsley) to help out.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: Both short story and screen versions of the story end with Harry hurling racist insults at Ganderbai for daring to question whether there was a snake at all. In the original short story, Ganderbai takes it in stride, telling the (implicitly whitenote ) Timber that the event has messed with Harry's head. In this version, Ganderbai is much colder, and tells the (now explicitly Indian) Timber that he cannot apologize for Harry's behavior. A sign saying "British jute" note is prominent in the background, reminding the audience of the power dynamics at play.
- Ambiguous Situation: The end of the short reveals that there is no snake on Harry's stomach. It's unclear if it slithered off to elsewhere in the room/house at some point, or if there was ever a snake at all.
- Double-Meaning Title: Like in the short story, the titular Poison refers not just to the threat of dying via snake bite, but also to the bigotry and toxicity Harry possesses towards Indians.
- Punny Name: The protagonist and narrator of the story is named Timber Woods.
- Scars Are Forever: Timber mentions that the smell of chloroform uncomfortably reminds him of hospitals and wars. As he says this the screen splits to show him in the past at a hospital, a recently-stitched-up scar running across his forehead. In the present, the scar is still there.
- Split Screen: The screen is halved as Woods narrates Dr. Ganderbai injecting Harry with the serum, with Woods' narration on the right and the camera cutting between the doctor and Harry on the left. The same technique is used when Ganderbai breaks out the chloroform.
- Suck Out the Poison: The narrator prepares to cut Harry and suck out the venom if he's bitten.
- Ungrateful Bastard: It's ultimately revealed that there is no snake on Harry's stomach. Dr. Ganderbai, attempting to defuse the tension, jokes that maybe he dreamed it. Harry takes this as Ganderbai calling him a liar, and begins hurling racist insults at the doctor. This is after Ganderbai has ventured out in the middle of the night in his pyjamas and gone to great lengths to help save Harry's life, even if there was never any actual danger.
