Director Yorgos Lanthimos is back on the big screen with his newest film, “Bugonia.” This marks his 10th feature film, released two years after his 2023 Oscar-winning “Poor Things” and one year after “Kinds of Kindness.” Teaming up once again with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, the film depicts a conspiracy theorist Teddy Gats, played by Plemons, descending into madness as he kidnaps Stone’s character, pharmaceutical CEO Michelle Fuller, whom he believes is an alien planning to destroy humanity.
In an industry oversaturated with sequels and prequels, Lanthimos’s storytelling offers a welcome relief. Known for breaking the traditional molds, he subverts audience expectations, conditioned by monotonous blockbusters and franchise movies, bringing bizarre and stunning films back with style.
“Bugonia” is an adaptation of a South Korean film, “Saved by the Green Planet,” resurrected and adapted by Will Tracy, known for “Succession” and “The Menu.” With an old-school 35mm camera and only five principal cast members, Lanthimos dives deep into each fiery, complex character.
As always, Stone delivers a fantastic performance. As Fuller, she embodies a commanding, corporate businesswoman. Once Gats kidnaps her, she is stripped of her human qualities, with a poorly shaven bald head and a pale complexion discolored by a slathering of antihistamine cream.
Even in this transformed, alien-like state, Stone as Fuller carries her corporate charisma, making calculated attempts to schmooze her way out of captivity by trying to “have a dialogue” and create a “safe space” with her captor.
Stone is exceptional, but Plemons’s performance as Gats steals the show with perhaps his best performance to date. He masterfully captures the mannerisms and devotion of a man searching for the truth in a world filled with deception.
While Stone and Plemons dominate, the supporting cast is crucial too, especially Don, played by Aidan Delbis, Gats’ loyal, yet hesitant cousin. As Gats’s accomplice, Don acts as a mediator between his cousin and their victim. The two men share a strong bond, rooted in a mutual fear of loneliness and a loss of connection.
Their performances are only elevated by the meticulous and intentional cinematography. Throughout the film, Stone is bathed in sterile, hard light, a reference to her harsh work life. In contrast, Plemons is illuminated by warm tones, making him appear peaceful despite his erratic actions. Don, on the other hand, is shown in cool tones.
The warm light signifies Gats’ hope, while the cooler tones represent Don’s hopelessness as he goes along with his cousin’s plans, lacking his own concrete moral footing. As the story continues, their different lightings complement one another, visually underscoring their close, yet complicated, bond.
The score is just as unsettling. It builds in such a way that makes mundane tasks, like Gats’s bike rides to work or caring for his bees, seem much grander and foreboding. With moments reminiscent of the out-of-this-world feeling of “Interstellar,” the music roots itself in a thriller’s sense of impending doom, creating a powerful dissonance between what the viewer is seeing and what they are hearing.
Ultimately, the core theme of conspiracy in “Bugonia” is not just a plot device, but a reflection of a deeper-rooted mistrust within society. The film masterfully explores how easily people can be manipulated, and how far they will go to convince themselves that their worldview is the correct one.
Lanthimos uses the thriller format to explore how corporations reduce employees to quotas and customers to opportunities. While often funny in its bizarre execution, “Bugonia” is also surprisingly heart-wrenching and tense, anchoring itself in the rage directed toward the opposing class and the corporate-caused pain that motivates it. This film zigzags in unexpected ways, cementing Lanthimos’s status as a director who can craft a film that is both a bizarre, stylized spectacle and a poignant, socially relevant commentary.