By Angelique Jurd (angeliquejurd.com)

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Starring: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons

Running Time: 118 minutes

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Genre: Satirical thriller, eco-horror, psychological drama

Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia is such a fever dream of paranoia, power, and planetary
collapse that it’s difficult to know where to start. I’ll try not to give any spoilers but… I
can’t promise.

The film, a remake of a Korean cult classic from 2003, Save the Green Planet!, is both chic and cynical, posing some very valid questions around delusion (of all varieties) and corporate greed and domination. Emma Stone plays Michelle Fuller, the CEO of a pesticide empire, with her usual flair, presenting Fuller almost like a female Steve Jobs.

Fuller’s life and business run on such a rigid timetable it borders on parody – or would if I didn’t know a few too many real-life Fullers. If I was a bit disappointed to see yet another successful business woman portrayed as cold, distant, and robotic it had nothing to do with Stone’s performance which was in a word, exquisite. Early in the piece, Fuller is kidnapped by Teddy (Jesse Plemons), a beekeeper who all but wears his tin-hat in public. If he had worn it, not a single person anywhere would have been surprised. Especially when it’s revealed that his reason for
kidnapping Fuller is that he’s certain she is an alien sent to destroy Earth.

And now it gets tricky, friends, to not spoil the film. Much has been made of the fact
Bugonia is meld of thriller, cynical comedy, and solid commentary on the current
state of world. I’m not going to argue against any of that but I do believe it’s only
made possible by the brilliant performances of Stone, Plemons and Aiden Delbis.
The latter plays Teddy’s sidekick, Don, with finesse and extraordinary talent – I would
very much like to see more of his work. Lanthimos, of Poor Things fame, pulls performances that are nothing short of stellar from the cast. Stone’s Fuller is chilling in her dedication to Corporate (capital letter very much deliberate) and her lack of empathy for those around her, while Plemons
presents us with a Teddy who is grief stricken, conspiracy driven, and above all lost
in his own desperation. I wish he, Lanthimos, had done as strong a job with the story
line. I felt – and feel free to disagree – that the story was predictable and while I
understand that was in fact partly the point, it was distracting. A director of Lanthimos’ calibre could surely have managed it a little better?

What was intended I’m sure to be the ‘ah ha! gotcha’ moment was far from it. The true power moment, disturbing and gruesome as it was, came earlier. While Teddy is presented as the ultimate conspiracy theorist for the main part of the movie and Fuller as the hard pragmatist, the ending turns the table to some extent.

Asking questions few of us want to ask – let alone have answered – about the world
around, Bugonia pushes limits and holds a very dark, very cynical mirror to the
audience and ultimately society itself. I like good satire as much as the next person, but I don’t really need it delivered with a hammer and that is, for me, what lets Bugonia down. Humans might at times be a little obtuse but I don’t think for the main part we are that obtuse.

Final verdict? A good movie that stopped just short of being a brilliant one for me.

Story: 2.5/5 Plot: 3/5 Acting: 4/5 Effects: 4/5 Overall: 3.5/5

Thanks to Sans Pareil Online, Universal Pictures, and Event Cinemas for the
opportunity to view and review Bugonia.