Bugonia

Yorgos Lanthimos has cemented his place as one of my favorite working directors. I used to describe his style as, "if Wes Anderson made horror films"...but I take that back now. I've found that although Lanthimos uses the same kind of deadpan humor and elevated (some may say stilted) dialogue favored by Anderson, his films are much more emotional than Anderson's films. Although Anderson's films can certainly make you feel something, they always seem to keep emotions at an arm's length. Anderson's films feel overly controlled whereas Lanthimos' films feel out of control, with characters being plunged into absurd situations they often don't understand. 

And although Bugonia sits in the middle of my ranking of Lanthimos' films (I still love The Lobster and Poor Things the most), it is the most deeply emotional of his films, in my opinion. It really tugged at those heartstrings, but without a hint of schmaltzy sentimentalism. 

If you've seen the preview, you know the basic plot: a man kidnaps a high-powered CEO thinking that she is an alien out to destroy earth. Teddy (Jesse Plemmons) opens the film by describing to his cousin, Donny (newcomer Aidan Delbis, more on him later), how essential bees are to the earth's vegetation. And they are dying. Teddy is a man who has done his research. He believes that aliens walk among us--specifically, Andromedans--and that they are behind all of the earth's woes. And he believes that Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), CEO of a pharmaceutical megacorporation, is one of them. 

Teddy convinces Donny to help him kidnap Michelle and force her to grant the men an audience with the Emperor of the Andromedans. Teddy believes that if he can meet with this alien Emperor, he can negotiate with the Andromedans to leave earth, thus saving it. There's only one problem: Michelle isn't an alien. 

Bugonia is a brutal watch. Although Teddy claims to not want to use force on Michelle, he does. There are scenes of male-on-female violence (thank goodness, no sexual violence) that some viewers will find difficult to watch. However, if you've seen Lanthimos' other films, you're probably at least somewhat prepared for the intensity. 

The thing that makes Bugonia different than other films that depict kidnapping, coercion, and violence is that Teddy isn't an inherently bad guy. At least, I didn't think so. Teddy truly believes his alien conspiracy--he isn't just torturing a woman for sick jollies. He really believes he is saving earth. On top of that, we see flashbacks and learn that Teddy's mother took part in a clinical trial for a drug produced by Michelle's company and is now in a coma. Although Teddy denies it, Michelle rightly points out that the kidnapping plan is influenced by Teddy's pain and anger over this turn of events. Teddy also claims that the Andromedans "killed our family". It's hard to discern where Teddy's anger at Michelle's corporation ends and his alien conspiracy begins. As with most conspiracy theorists, there is enough evidence of "them"--powerful people, rich people--being out to get you that it adds fuel to their more bizarre beliefs.

And then there's Donny. Sweet Donny. Newcomer to the screen Aidan Delbis submitted a tape during an open casting call for the role. Apparently, Lanthimos wanted Donny to be neurodivergent and Delbis is neurodivergent in real life. The first third of the movie has Teddy explaining his wild beliefs to Donny and Donny expressing skepticism before ultimately agreeing to go along with the plan. It's really heartrending when Teddy explains that the two men need to chemically castrate themselves in order to be fully focused on the task at hand and Donny says "I just thought I'd maybe want to be with someone someday" before finally accepting an injection of hormones. Now, it's true that Donny knows the difference between right and wrong, but as he explains to Michelle, he needs Teddy because Teddy is his only family left and he loves his cousin. We can see how someone who doesn't have a lot of people in his life might latch on to the one person he does have and even go along with some vile shit.

Although the movie does tease us with the "is she or isn't she an alien" throughout, it's less about that and more about how otherwise kind and intelligent people can be contorted by abuse, pain, and helplessness. The film is definitely a commentary on how megacorporations don't give a shit about how many lives they destroy in the quest to make money, but it's also about how in the face of profound helplessness, people turn to anything for answers: religion, political movements...even absurd conspiracy theories. Because if you can figure out the secret, no matter how horrible it is, you have some control. 

Perhaps I'm giving Teddy and Donny too much credit...but I think it's a testament to Plemmons and Delbis' acting chops that I didn't hate these men even though they (Teddy in particular) were acting in cruel and horrible ways. Likewise, Emma Stone is excellent as a very strong and intelligent woman who faces her captors head on with a surprising lack of fear. Is her ability to argue back against Teddy a sign that she's a corporate sociopath? Or is she...something else? 

I really dug this movie, even though it was very difficult to watch at times. It's also very funny in the uniquely dark way that all of Lanthimos' films are. There were scenes where something so shocking and horrific would happen, that I would involuntarily guffaw. If that sounds like your type of movie, you're in for a treat.

 Grade: A-