I absolutely adore director Yorgos Lanthimos’ films. Their wildly idiosyncratic, absurdist tone is such a breath of fresh air in a cinematic landscape that can often feel heavy-handed or pandering to its audience. From The Lobster to The Favourite to Poor Things, Lanthimos creates realities that are as chaotic and off-kilter as the world now seems to be. I’ve been told his earlier Greek works are even more so, though I’ve yet to see them. In his latest outing, Bugonia, he teams up with screenwriter Will Tracy, who has written for the screenplay for The Menu and episodes of Succession, and also who also served as the former editor-in-chief of the satire website The Onion. Bugonia is an English-language remake of the Korean film Save the Green Planet! by director Jang Joon-hwan and this movie reunites Lanthimos with Emma Stone, who he has collaborated with since The Favourite.
Bugonia follows Teddy Ganz (Jesse Plemons) and his autistic cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) as they plan to kidnap CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), whom they believe is an alien from Andromeda. Teddy and Don live quite a distance from town, taking care of bees, and Teddy is completely hooked on conspiracy theories, especially those about aliens. Michelle is a no-nonsense boss, who runs a biotech company and seems to be in the process of making big changes to the corporate culture. When she’s kidnapped and chained in the cousins’ the basemen, a mental battle begins. As Michelle tries to figure out how to call for help or escape, Teddy demands that she take him to her ship so he can negotiate Earth’s freedom from Andromedan control.
Punctuated by Jerskin Fendrix’s impeccably playful score, the film’s simple premise creates a space for Stone, Plemmons, and Delbis to showcase their incredible acting abilities. Through cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s lens, Lanthimos contains the story primarily within the confines of Teddy and Don’s apartment. He creates a claustrophobic environment that heightens the battle of wits that’s occurring in the film. Stone and Plemmons are in fine form here, completely committing to the silliness of the film’s premise and allowing the comedy to rise despite the real dangers and the brutal violence that builds and bursts within the movie.
It’s interesting how the film manages to subvert emotions here, with the natural tendency to root for Stone’s Michelle Fuller, as a victim of a crazed-conspiracy junkie with violent tendencies. Except Michelle isn’t always the nicest of people, either. There’s a coldness to her and a calculating mind that comes into play as the back-and-forth start to reveal more about the two character’s connection. As more and more information is uncovered, Lanthimos and Tracy create a space for us to empathize with Teddy as well. Throughout all this, we also feel for Don, who is caught in the middle of these two powerful egos that are not beneath using him for their own ends.
Lanthimos is unafraid to get silly but at the corner of every scene is violence and impending danger for the characters and, as a director, he’s not too shy to bring us there. Teddy tortures Michelle and this is given ample screentime, showing us that as funny as we find Bugonia to be, there are dangers to this sort of blind belief in these conspiracy theories. As human as the film makes Teddy out to be, it does not shy away from also showing us how his frailty can lead him to do such horrendous things.
As the film reaches its extremely violent climax, Lanthimos and Tracy are unafraid to push even harder into the absurdity that its ending brings out the loudest laughs in a film that has quite a lot already within its almost two hour run time. Another message is delivered, though a bit underdeveloped, but the film as a whole is a testament to Lanthimos’ mastery of the craft, bringing us along on strange, bloody ride through the darkest corners of human civilization.
My Rating:
Get ready for a wild, wicked ride into Yorgos Lanthimos’ bizarre world. Bugonia is now showing in cinemas, check showtimes and buy your tickets now.
