Director Yorgos Lanthimos ultimately delivers a profound message to humanity through the medium of a comedy horror. The film is full of clever comedic touches such as the reference to flat earth conspiracy fans when in the ultimate scene we see the aliens’ model of earth is not a globe but flat. Many hilarious understated gems are littered throughout the film, which makes it probably well worth a second viewing.
Bugonia, is loosely based on the 2003 South Korean sci-fi comedy film Save the Green Planet!, written and directed by Jang Joon Hwan. The script by Will Tracy is both entertaining and delivers a knock out moral punchline that serves as a warning to the world.
The film opens with two conspiracy-obsessed men that have been living off the grid, who are determined to save the world. Teddy, played Jesse Plemons, is a beekeeper who becomes convinced that the collapse of his bee hives is a harbinger of the collapse of the planet and the end of humanity. He signs up his none too bright cousin Don played by Aidan Delbis to help him in his plot to save the world. These two characters are played with broad comedy as conspiracy nut cases that believe that aliens from the Andromeda galaxy are behind the eminent collapse of our environment and that the aliens are about to destroy planet Earth.
Teddy kidnaps Michelle Fuller played by Emma Stone, the high powered CEO of Auxolith Corp a pharmaceutical giant, who he believes is using her position to carry out the agenda of the aliens from Andromeda galaxy. Convinced she is an alien infiltrator trying to destroy planet Earth the two characters imprison Michelle in their basement and subject her to increasingly more violent torture and abuse. When Don tries to tone down the apparently out of control Teddy we learn the story of how Auxolith used Teddy’s mother as a guinea pig in drug tests that went wrong and that his mother is still incapacitated in a hospital from the after effects.
Stone could be considered the muse of Lanthimos working with him on The Favourite and Poor Things, bringing unique performances to her work that make it impossible to imagine anyone else in her roles. Stone plays the character of the powerful and ruthless CEO for all its worth with great on screen chemistry between her and Plemons. Fans will remember her work with Plemons on Lanthimos previous film Kinds of Kindness.
This is dark comedy at its darkest and Stone is a joy to watch as the bald headed CEO as she bounces off against Plemons throughout this funny and profound romp. A work of real genius.
Bugonia (UK / USA)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Main Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone
