Film Review — Bugonia

Bugonia, the latest film from Yorgos Lanthimos, is a remake of Save the Green Planet! (2003); a South Korean film directed by Jang Joon-hwan that, unfortunately, I’ve not seen. All the same, Lanthimos puts his indelible stamp on the story, directorially and thematically, with screenwriter Will Tracy endowing it with contemporary satirical heft. Yet despite strong performances and tonal shifts that feel audacious rather than incompatible, I must admit Bugonia rather left me cold. It’s perhaps a film I admire rather than like; not as splendidly weird as Lanthimos’s most extreme projects, nor accessible enough to draw in those unconverted to his singular directorial talents.

The narrative set-up involves conspiracy theorist Teddy Gatz (Jess Plemons) and his easily led cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis). Teddy is convinced the CEO of pharmaceutical giant Auxolith, Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), is really an alien from the Andromeda galaxy involved in subjugating humanity and wiping out bee colonies. He and Don hatch an elaborate plan to kidnap her, imprison her, and shave her head to ensure she can’t use her hair to send distress signals (as you do). They then demand that she grant them access to the Andromeda Emperor to negotiate their withdrawal from the planet in four days…