Bugonia

'Bugonia (2025)' is about a pair of conspiracy theorists who kidnap a CEO in the belief she's an alien capable of negotiating a deal with her brethren to leave Earth and stop harming its residents. Shot with director Yorgos Lanthimos' signature clinical coldness but trading his films' usual monotone stiffness for a more naturalistic approach to matter-of-fact dialogue, the film balances dark comedy with crushing reality as it crafts its relatable world of heartbreaking problems and no easy solutions. It isn't really interested in answering any of the questions it asks, nor is it concerned with giving you a clear outcome - or protagonist - to root for. Despite being a three-hander, it's never clear which of the main players you're meant to be aligned with, as it's basically just a case of a bad person doing bad things to another bad person while a slightly less bad person watches with unease. There's no real thematic consistency or poignance to the picture because it doesn't really seem to say anything beyond establishing its narrative as being once which plays with recognisable concepts and emotions. It also does something that throws its underlying point into question, going so far as to perhaps undercut the point it initially makes about who's "right" and who's "wrong". Its grey mortality is part of its appeal, but its ultimate handling of it feels ever-so-slightly irresponsible if you try to sincerely connect the dots from its execution back to its conception. In the end, this is a really well-made movie that's performed to perfection and is unashamedly downbeat. It's quirky, it's uncomfortable, it's mostly entertaining. Yet, it's also slightly uneven, with a third act that's vaguely disappointing (and, even more vaguely, predictable) despite its undeniable boldness. It's definitely a good movie, but it isn't quite as emotionally gripping as I'd like it to be. I appreciate it, but I don't exactly feel it. Still, it's a solid effort that's engaging and entertaining enough to keep you happily watching for its duration. It isn't Lanthimos' best, but it isn't his worst, either.

This movie is a really good mix of genres in typical lanthimos styles, there's especially a lot of his sicked black humour as well as unexpected drama, horror and sci fi. Performances are all great but it's the finale that for me really elevates the movie. Funny, coherent, surprising, visually amazing.

The soundtrack was great too, looking forward to its general release to see the audience reaction.

London Film Festival review

For a moment BUGONIA is like watching "Misery" or "Funny Games" through the lens of 1950s Hollywood dystopian paranoia films. Yorgos follows the sadistic path he started in The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Kinds Of Kindness playing with Kubrick-like visuals and sounds to deliver a fairly straightforward cynical fable until it's not.

Emma and Jesse explore a violent theatricality and beautiful expressionism to great success. Both are harrowing and spectacular (this is Plemons best part ever) but are also limited by the linearity of it all. The last act reconnects Lanthimos with his subversive, unpredictable and absurd poetry but I guess Media, Politics and Truths are this year's true topics. Not surprising this film shares common grounds with Eddington.

I wanted to love it but I just really really liked it.

Plemons sinks into this role like wet cement.

If Heath Ledger's Joker was chaos on fire, Plemons is the silence that burns before the explosion. The yin to that yang. No makeup, no theatrics, just a man quietly losing his grip one inch at a time. You can't look away.

His scenes of him 'brainwashing' his cousin exudes a natural darkness I cannot recall ever seeing on screen before.

Don't get me wrong, Emma Stone is terrific here, carrying that same cool, unreadable spark that Tilda Swinton built a career on, only with a younger, brighter edge. Stone has already collected two Oscars, though, and what really catches you off guard is Jesse Plemons, who turns in a performance so sharp and so unsettling that you keep thinking you've never quite seen him push himself like this.

"Bugonia" eases in with what looks like a simple setup, just two men talking, one dominating the dialogue while the other tries to keep pace, and before you realize it the whole thing has shifted into a story that moves fast yet stays grounded enough to feel like something that could unfold a few blocks from where you live. I was hooked from the first scene and stayed that way nearly all the way through, though the ending lingers longer than it needs to, just enough to place it a step below "Poor Things." Even so, it is unmistakably a Yorgos Lanthimos production, and it carries that same strange, irresistible flavor that makes his work so easy to sink into.