Yorgos Lanthimos has been producing some of the most unique films in the industry for over a decade. I first discovered his work with The Lobster, a film where single people are sent to a hotel and have 45 days to meet the love of their life or they turn into an animal, yeah, one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen and it’s fantastic, earning him his first Oscar nomination. Since then, Lanthimos has just gone from strength to strength, with both The Favourite and Poor Things giving him a nomination for Directing and Best Picture. The Favourite was particularly noteworthy as it was Lanthimos’ first collaboration with Emma Stone, a working relationship we have now seen on the screen 4 times, with Stone’s performance in Poor Things earning her a second Oscar win.
Bugonia follows Teddy (played by Jesse Plemons) and his cousin, Don, who believe in a conspiracy theory that there are aliens in disguise on Earth who are intent on destroying the planet. Teddy believes that one of those aliens is high powered CEO, Michelle (played by Emma Stone), he quickly plans to capture her and get her to confess.
Yorgos’ earlier film, Kinds of Kindness, came and went without barely making an impact on the industry, which shocked people after it only came a couple of months after Poor Things, but ultimately felt like it was lacking his typical flair. Thankfully, what I can say about Bugonia is that it’s a return to form in that sense, his quirky, unique style is back in abundance. This film certainly felt at times like it had a blend of his earlier work with the humour of The Favourite, the bizarreness of Poor Things and The Lobster, and the intensity of The Killing of a Sacred Deer. I love his direction, I love his style, and despite him having a little break for a few years now, I’ll always look ahead to his next feature, and what bizarre story he’s going to tell. Bugonia is arguably his most accessible to a wider audience, with a simpler concept than the likes of Poor Things and The Lobster, and from the conversations I’ve seen online, I think this film is reaching a slightly larger audience who haven’t yet discovered his work, and now have a few years to go through his filmography before his next release.
If you make a list of the best current actresses working, you’d find it hard to deny Emma Stone being at the very top of that list, and yet her last three leading roles have all been with Yorgos, so clearly have built a fantastic understanding between the two of them and an idea of what they can do to get the best out of it for each other, and this is another powerful performance. There’s so many levels to her performance and the nature of the story that you’re always trying to guess what is the truth, and Stone delivers that perfectly.
Jesse Plemons is another actor that has worked with Yorgos before, though just the once with a role in Kinds of Kindness. Plemons has also had multiple critical acclaim in roles, but just the one Oscar nomination in 2022 for The Power of the Dog, alongside 3 Emmy nominations and yet none of those were for his role in Breaking Bad, which is probably where it felt like his break actually came. Similarly to Stone’s character, you spend a lot of the film working out whether he’s actually clever or just insane, with Teddy leaning much more on the side of unhinged and unpredictable, and Plemons does a fantastic job of working with Stone and Lanthimos to nail the tone.
As always with Lanthimos’ previous work, not only are the performances fantastic but there’s a fantastic level of detail from everyone working on the film. From the fantastic set design, an effective and tense score by Jerskin Fendrix, who has worked with Lanthimos multiple times, as well as Robbie Ryan’s cinematography. I think those two particular areas are ones that the film could do well in at the Oscars next March, or at the very least be in the hat for. Unfortunately for the film, it’s a relatively strong year and I don’t see this film walking home with any golden statues, but Stone getting her 5th Oscar nomination feels like a lock for me, with Jessie Buckley leading that race, Stone feels like she’s presently in 2nd place, and could lead to an impressive 3rd Oscar, which would put her 1 behind Katherine Hepburn (who won 4) and joint with Meryl Streep, Frances Mcdormand and Ingrid Bergman, and would make Stone the youngest actor or actress to achieve that feet (even if she doesn’t win, she will have 9 years to break that record).
Overall, Bugonia is an intriguing thriller, that is full of dark comedy moments which not only has you laughing at times, but also on the edge of your seat, lead by fantastic performances from the 2 leads and a unique director, that continues to offer some of the most bizarre stories in an industry that often feels cluttered with sequels and remakes, and that is something that deserves to not only be seen but to be celebrated.
What did you think of Bugonia?
It’s been a while so here’s a little life update. The reason I stopped doing these was purely that I wasn’t going to the cinema enough so was very behind on the latest releases to the point where I felt it was worthless doing the reviews as I was so late to that ship. It was also at a time where my work was short staffed, and I felt it difficult balancing seeing films, and having the time or motivation to write afterwards or on my days off.
I was considering making a switch to do more editing, however I’m too used to using Adobe Creative Cloud and struggle to use any other software, and don’t have the time to learn another one.
All that being said, I’d like to get back into doing this more regularly (I haven’t decided whether that means bringing back the weekly news, likely not at the moment anyway, or in it’s previous form anyway), especially as there are plenty of films this month I’m really looking forward to, so please like and follow on all the usual places linked below. Thank you.
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