@Courtesy of Focus Features
After the quite overrated Poor Things and the interesting but unbalanced Kinds of Kindness, Yorgos Lanthimos is back with his best movie since The Favourite. And this happened because the director worked on a screenplay which is quite basic but nonetheless effective, allowing him to develop his own visual taste and his personal tone without wandering around.
The story of Bugonia follows Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis), both deeply involved in conspiracy theories about aliens infiltrating our society. This is why they decide to kidnap the pharmaceutical company CEO Michelle (Emma Stone), who they believe is a non-terrestrial entity in disguise on Earth. Once she is held as a captive in their house’s basement, the two guys discover that it isn’t so easy to make her confess being an Andromedan.
The screenplay written by Will Tracy is loosely based on the 2003 Korean movie Save the Green Planet! by Jang Joon-hwan. Just looking at the pilot and the essence of the characters, you can easily understand how Tracy’s script could have been developed as a serious drama. And this is what makes Bugonia an original, feature film: Lanthimos instead applies his usual surreal, comic tone working specifically on the dialogues, the timing of the editing and of course the performances by the actors. Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone are gifted with the chance to explore the grotesque side of both characters and story, and their chemistry is wholly improved compared to Kinds of Kindness.
@Courtesy of Focus Features
Especially in the first part of Bugonia, when Michelle has to understand what’s going on and subsequently prove the kidnappers that she is not an alien, Emma Stone delivers a ferocious and formidable performance, carefully crafted through the exact timing of her lines in order for them to be sharp, serious and hilarious at the same time. When the psychological and physical strength of the woman gets tested by the events, here comes the ability of Emma to elevate herself to the position of one of the best actors of our times. On the other side there is Jesse Plemons, who is capable of showing all the weakness and the fragility of Teddy. At the same time the kidnapper is subtly threatening, capable of sudden violence and bursts of rage. There is a painful deal of humanity in him, and that makes Teddy way more believable than how usually this kind of borderline outcasts are portrayed in movies.
The first part of Bugonia is without any doubt the best of the movie: using the realistic principal setting of the countryside house, Yorgos Lanthimos succeeds in creating tension mixed with his own comic take on the story. The director represents with a powerful and still witty touch the battle of wills between the two main antagonists: as a psychological duel, Bugonia is highly entertaining. The sequence in which the three characters have dinner together is the earth and soul of the movie, and by far one of the best sequences seen this year on the big screen.
As long as the story unfolds, the author is capable of shifting the tone and making his movie more surreal, until an ending that is pure Lanthimos’ touch. Behind the joyous approach of the gritty comedy, Bugonia is a piece of work that reflects deeply the disconnection that too many human beings live in our present. A divided and neglecting society, where the single individual is left alone battling with psychological issues, doubtful truths coming from wrong sources of information, is the primary battleground for the two protagonists. In their own way, they are both tragic because of their alienation. In the end, you laugh a lot watching Bugonia, but after a few minutes after finishing the movie you are far from being elated.
@Courtesy of Focus Features
Rate: B
If you liked the review, share your thoughts below.
Check out more of Adriano’s articles.
Here’s the trailer for Bugonia: