Movie Review: ‘Bugonia’

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone

Plot: Teddy leads a simple life keeping bees and researching conspiracy theories online. His work has lead him to believe that a powerful CEO is an alien, and abducts her to negotiate on behalf of the human race.

Review: It was notable that Ari Aster was involved in this film as a producer, considering his recent film Eddington shares a specific similarity. Both films explore the point of view of conspiracy theorists who have fallen down internet rabbit holes to the point that they’ve become dangerous. They also have Emma Stone in them, but she’s in most things lately. Whilst Eddington took in an entire community during COVID lock-down, Bugonia is a battles of wits and wills between two people from opposing ends of the social spectrum, each dangerous in their own right.

Emma Stone, the top billed actor, plays Michelle Fuller, a pharmaceutical CEO living a cold and impersonal but highly accomplished life. She’s awake early and partakes in all manner of luxuries, such as private fitness coaches, valets and high end appliances. The main characters of this story are really Teddy and Don (Plemons and Delbis), a pair of cousins living in the family farmhouse, caring for bees and preparing for their plan. Teddy has a fully realised plan to evade government surveillance methods and abduct Fuller, whilst Don – suffering an intellectual disability – is manipulated by and relies on Teddy.

For the most part we’re seeing the world from Teddy’s distorted perspective. There’s a dense, yellow fog over this world, reflecting his obsession with the declining numbers of bees and obsession with finding a person to blame for his unhappiness. After Teddy shaves Fuller’s head and coats her in antihistamine to prevent her from contacting her spaceship, she certainly begins to resemble an alien infiltrator. The skill of director Yanthimos is to lead us far enough from the path that we can start to believe it.

As the two figures, steadfast in their beliefs and ability to logic their way out of situation, begin to pick apart at each other’s insecurities we see the layers of history behind them start to emerge. Teddy’s family history has been beset by tragedy that he hasn’t been able to come to terms with whilst Michelle’s company has been involved in unethical practises. In the middle is Don, a victim unable to stand-up for himself and potentially swayed by either of them.

Lanthimos must be unable to sleep, since he’s been knocking out top tier cinema twice a year lately. It’s hard to pin down what makes his cinematic style work, as it deftly breaks the rules in minor ways. Slightly off-framing and almost entirely locked off shots mean that the sudden whip pans are almost startling. The minimal approach puts the focus on the actors and the script. Plemons and Stone are among the best in their generation and this is a perfect showcase for their skills.

Rating: NINE out of TEN