Producing a film is an extremely expensive and arduous process. Needing actors, producers, editors, writers and many more individuals in the technical aspects of camera work, sound and lighting. Yorgos Lanthimos has not only been able to do this but also created one movie each year for the past 3 years and cement himself as the face of experimental film, even if regularly debated in the industry.
“Bugonia,” the lastest film released by Lanthimos and his third work with Emma Stone, hit movie theaters on Oct. 24 of this year, and became another piece of his with very strong commentary about social issues such as conspiracy theories, corporate greed and the extremes of humanity and revenge. It is based on the 2003 South Korean film “Save the Green Planet!” directed by Jang Joon-hwan, and it drives us through the kidnapping of Michelle Fuller, a CEO of a very large pharmaceutical company done by two low-income men lead by revenge and hatred.
Fuller is played by Emma Stone, who has gotten a perfect understanding of the tone of Lanthimos films, and delivers the perfect mix of insanity and realism, agreeing to go completely bald and once again accepting the extremeness some scenes might have in both physicality and emotion. Winning an Oscar from “Poor Things” in 2023 has strengthened the relationship with Lanthimos, and she is greatly partnered in this film with Jesse Plemmons, playing Teddy Gatz.
Gatz believes that Fuller is an alien from a different world, an “Andromedan” sent to the human world to destroy our kind and destroy every community and life that there is in Earth. Gatz is accompanied by Don, his cousin, played by Aidan Delbis, who is constantly manipulated by Gatz to perform the kidnapping as well as multiple torture and maintenance of Fuller. The only request of Gatz is for Fuller to connect with her mothership and arrange a meeting with them to discuss the future and salvation of humankind.
As expected, just the plot makes for a very interesting and out of the ordinary film, remarking itself as many of the director’s past works, but while in a previous review I did not particularly enjoy 2023’s “Poor Things,” “Bugonia” flourishes as a surrealist dark comedy. The discussion of rabbit holes and extremism in online communities is an ever-growing issue and combined with the utter difference between low income Gatz and millionaire Fuller, we see a much clearer point of discussion to sink in with remarks of classism and society’s perception of both sides.
In a more technical side, the film sparked a very specific look to itself with extremely wide-panoramic shots that almost curved in the screen itself, which was achieved by the use of the vintage Beaumont VistaVision camera, and only adds to the almost gritty aspect of the film and the feeling of watching everything in the room, even if wrong, and not being able to do anything.
Finally, throughout the first 20 minutes of the film we see a build-up of the abduction, with rest of the film being placed as a psychology game between our two protagonists, but what really shines through is the last 30 minutes of the film which, without spoilers, brought back the weird factor into the proposal and raised the overall level of the film. While it is not a path many would follow, it was an exciting and perplexing direction which sealed the deal for me and many critiques alike.
“Bugonia” is now available in film theaters all across the country, and I recommend it to anyone reading.
