By We live in an age in time where conspiracy theories are just about as common as coffee runs.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ newest film, fourth with Emma Stone, Bugonia dives headfirst into the madness and somehow manages to make it hilarious, horrifying, and heartbreakingly human all at once.
Along with Stone, we get an outstanding performance from the always reliable Jesse Plemons. Together, the pair deliver two of the best performances you will see in a film this year.
Bugonia is a remake of the 2003 South Korean cult favorite Save the Green Planet! Much like other Lanthimos films, Bugonia is eccentric, unsettling, and impossible to look away from.
Plemons stars as Teddy, a delusional conspiracy theorist who kidnaps Stone’s high-powered pharmaceutical executive, Michelle, convinced she’s an alien plotting humanity’s destruction.
Aided by his cousin Don, played by newcomer Aidan Delbis, Teddy engages in a dark, yet comical battle of wits and wills between captor and captive. While Plemons will undoubtedly get an Oscar-nod for the performance, Stone could be in line for another win. The actress once again throws herself into the role, something moviegoers have become accustomed to seeing. Shaving her head and shedding vanity, she delivers a fearless performance that’s both chilling and oddly sympathetic.
Lanthimos relies on his trademark style of directing: symmetrical compositions, clipped dialogue, bursts of ridiculous humor, and moments of shocking brutality. Yet beneath the surrealism beats a very modern heart. Bugonia impales our already fractured media landscape, environmental anxiety, and the strange comfort found in believing anything that makes sense of chaos. It’s a movie about control, and who has it, who thinks they do, and how easily it can slip away.
Visually, the film is nothing short of stunning. From the first frame of the film, cinematographer Robbie Ryan bathes each scene in cold light and claustrophobic framing, turning even the mundane into menace. The score hums with dread, and Lanthimos’ pacing keeps viewers rotating between laughter and unease.
Is it weird? Absolutely. But it’s also exhilarating. Bugonia is that rare film that leaves audiences buzzing with energy, debating what they just saw, eager to talk it through, maybe even ready to watch it again. To sit in the theater and hear an audience react to certain scenes was an experience that made my second viewing all the more worthwhile. Bugonia was so bold, so alive, and so strangely funny that I saw it twice in theaters. Few films this year have been as daring or as timely. It’s been a while since a film evoked the type of reactions from an audience that Bugonia was able to conjure up.
Good Doctor Prescription: Take only if you’re ready for a potent dose of discomfort and a daring cinematic experience. Bugonia is not for the faint of heart, but highly effective for those seeking art that lingers long after viewing.
Bugonia gets an A.