Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, a duo who have yet to disappoint, team up for the fifth time with Bugonia, Lanthimos’s English-language remake of the 2003 Korean film Save the Green Planet! It centers around Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his best (and only) friend, Donny (Aidan Delbis), who make up the entire Human Resistance, a movement dedicated to exposing the Andromedans, an alien race they believe is extorting humanity.
Their current target is Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the CEO of Auxolith Corp., a pharmaceutical company, whom they kidnap from her glass mansion, dressed in beekeeper suits and Jennifer Aniston masks. Their abduction goes surprisingly smoothly considering Michelle trains every morning in martial arts and follows a strict anti-aging routine (“it’s very expensive, as you can imagine”). They lock Michelle in their basement and insist she bring them to meet the emperor of the Andromedans when contact is safe in three days during the lunar eclipse.
Both Michelle, a corporate workaholic pretending to be an understanding, supportive boss (we’ve all had one), and Teddy, a deeply hurt, nearly reclusive incel taking his anger out on Auxolith, are positioned to be characters the audience will dislike. This makes their three-day duel all the more engaging; viewers aren’t ever quite sure who to root for or believe. Michelle’s calm demeanor, likely honed from years of high-stress situations as a young businesswoman, contrasts with Teddy’s unwavering belief in his wild conspiracy theories, creating a perfect setup for both characters to be pushed out of their comfort zones and forced to make tough decisions.
Michelle is one of Stone’s more serious roles, and she executes it with excellence. She humanizes a character representing tech billionaires (who often seem unreal even outside the movies), while maintaining the corporate persona and jargon we all recognize. Plemons similarly brings authenticity to a character that appears to the audience to have completely lost his mind. Teddy’s reasons for hating Auxolith and Michelle turn out to be quite understandable, and Plemons uses this backstory to bring Teddy to life in a hauntingly beautiful way.
While much of the story depends on the two leads, the film benefits from excellent supporting actors. Delbis, an autistic actor in his first major role, is a perfect choice for Donny, who often serves as the voice of reason between Michelle and Teddy. Much of the dialogue between the two main characters is shown through reaction shots of Donny, acting as a proxy for the audience in the midst of these insane conversations. Stavros Halkias delivers excellent comic relief with his socially awkward cop, Casey. He has an awkward past with Teddy and has a knack for showing up at the worst possible times.
Will Tracy, adapting Jang Joon-hwan’s film, has crafted an excellent story with tight dialogue that reveals only as much as necessary. Tracy’s writing, paired with Robbie Ryan’s stunning cinematography and Yorgos Mavropsaridis’s impeccable comedic timing through editing, creates an impeccably paced two-hour film.
Bugonia is one of the best films of the year and is one you won’t want to miss.
