Bugonia: LFF Film Review
I disliked Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos‘ most recent film, Kinds of Kindness, so my expectations were low for Bugonia. But it’s an absolute banger and my favourite of their collaborations.
Based on the 2003 South Korean movie Save the Green Planet!, Bugonia stars Stone as Michelle Fuller, the CEO of the pharmaceutical company Auxolith. One day, she is kidnapped by conspiracy theorist Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) because they believe she’s actually an alien planning to destroy Earth.
What a concept! This premise was right up my street but I was worried it would run out of steam once Michelle had been taken captive. But thankfully, my concerns were unfounded – Will Tracy‘s script keeps things interesting and engaging throughout, adding new layers, character revelations and plenty of humour. You’d expect Michelle to be the powerless one, considering she’s the kidnapping victim, but she mostly remains in control, hoping that she can manipulate them with her powers of persuasion.
Compared to the likes of Dogtooth and Kinds of Kindness, this dark comedy thriller is a more conventional crowd-pleaser. However, there are some eccentricities here and there and it gets very dark towards the end, with lots of blood and horrifying imagery, and the ending itself is very Lanthimos (for better or worse). I could never have predicted the twists and turns this takes and I want to see the film again to appreciate them more.
Stone is always fantastic so it’s no surprise to report that she is brilliant once again here. Her CEO uses therapy speak to hide the fact that she’s not a very nice boss and her company has some blood on its hands. She eschews her vanity by bravely going bald for the role (a process which happens on screen) and being caked in cream. But I was most impressed by Plemons as a mentally unwell person who believes his alien theory with absolute certainty. He is unhinged, unpredictable and quite scary, and Delbis – making his film debut – balances him out by being the voice of reason and an easily swayed sweetheart.
I liked Poor Things and The Favourite a lot but Bugonia is easily the best Stone-Lanthimos team-up. I had such a great time with this.
Showing at the London Film Festival. In cinemas from Friday 31st October.