“Bugonia,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ most recent adventure in filmmaking, is not his best work. Acknowledging the fact that it is a remake of the 2003 Korean film, “Save the Green Planet!,” written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan, I had hoped that Lanthimos would make more substantial changes than swapping the gender of the central character and adding a dramatic musical score to make this story his own. Over its two-hour runtime, this thrilling comedy dabbles in the world of conspiracy theories, aliens, and human existence, but fails to leave a lasting impact. The film features a small cast, highlighting its strongest aspect: the exceptional individual performances by Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone.
Jesse Plemons plays Teddy Gatz, a bee-keeping conspiracy theorist, obsessed with proving that Andromedan aliens have come to destroy Earth. His suspicions center around Auxolith, a pharmaceutical company responsible for a failed clinical trial involving Teddy’s mother. Teddy, along with his cousin, Don, kidnap Auxolith CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), convinced that she is one of the Andromedan aliens. For the majority of the film, the two men interrogate and torture Fuller in their basement, attemping to get a confession out of her. After watching this film, it is obvious that Plemons’s performance is one to remember. To put it simply, he embodies the personality and spirit of a lunatic. Gatz’s angry, insane disposition throughout the film showed Plemons’ acting range in the way he portrayed a character struggling with severe psychological symptoms. In the moments that the plot was not keeping my attention, his intense rambling and terrifying presence brought me back to focus, solidifying his next-level acting.
In the second half of the film, Emma Stone comes to steal the show. As a fan of her previous collaborations with Lanthimos, such as “Poor Things” or “The Favourite,” my expectations for her performance were high, and she did not disappoint. At the turning point of the film, Stone masterfully switches from portraying a scared kidnapping victim to a composed manipulator of the situation. She puts on a calm front and delivers her lines with a hint of dry humor, ultimately giving her character the upper hand in her kidnapping. From that point on, Stone utilizes fear and manipulation so precisely that the film begins to bend around her performance. As her fourth Lanthimos film, “Bugonia” serves as the stage for the culmination of her acting prowess.
Despite excellent individual performances, the film as a whole did not leave an enduring impression. Lanthimos is known for his unconventional, absurd films, and as such, I went into this film expecting an experimental piece of work. This film, while serving up bold performances, felt too safe overall. For the majority of the film, Lanthimos relies on simple directional choices such as high and low angle shots and conventional, natural lighting. Considering his use of distorted camera angles and unique visuals in past work, this film takes a surprisingly cautious directional approach. Throughout the progression of the story, Lanthimos includes overwhelming musical swells in an effort to exaggerate the characters’ actions. However, this attempt to add a unique style to the scenes ends up distracting from the emotional moments taking place on screen. It also seemed like Lanthimos threw in unexpected graphic moments and a less-than-subtle ending to a plot that was not his own, in an attempt to add his signature layer of absurdity. The fact that this story is not his work dilutes these efforts, resulting in a stale cinematic creation. I would recommend this film to see Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone shine, however if you were hoping for something fresh, Lanthimos does not deliver.
