Two conspiracy theorists kidnap a CEO, believing her to be an alien in Bugonia. Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) is a conspiracy-obsessed beekeeper who lives with his lonely and gullible cousin Don (Aidan Delbis). The two plan the kidnapping of Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), a powerful CEO of a pharmaceutical company, whom Teddy adamantly believes is an alien invader from the Andromeda galaxy.
Teddy and Don take Michelle from her house and shave her head, believing her hair to be a way to contact her mother ship. She is then tied up and covered in moisturizer in Teddy’s basement, as he and Don interrogate Michelle about an impending alien invasion, set to occur during the upcoming lunar eclipse. Despite Michelle’s repeated denials, Teddy remains convinced that she is an alien and wants passage to her mothership to negotiate Earth’s survival.
Bugonia Synopsis
Bugonia is a darkly comic sci-fi thriller directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness) and is a loose remake of the 2003 Korean film Save the Green Planet!. The film marks the fourth collaboration between Lanthimos and star Emma Stone, which began with 2018’s The Favourite, and the second with co-star Jesse Plemons. Stone plays pharmaceutical CEO Michelle Fuller, who becomes the target of a kidnapping plot by Plemons’ character of Teddy Gatz.
Flashbacks throughout the film reveal that Teddy’s conspiracy theories originated from his mother, Sandy (Alicia Silverstone), who is currently in a hospital in a coma. Believing Michelle to be the source of his problems, Teddy kidnaps her and tries to get her to admit that she is an alien. However, Teddy’s cousin Don, played by newcomer Aidan Delbis, begins to show sympathy towards Michelle and begins to doubt Teddy’s conspiracies.
My Thoughts on Bugonia
Dating back to his breakthrough film, Dogtooth, Yorgos Lanthimos has always been a filmmaker unafraid to push boundaries. Adapted from the Korean film Save the Green Planet! by Will Tracy (The Menu), Bugonia comes off as a mix of 2017’s Killing of a Sacred Deer and the R.M.F. Is Flying segment from last year’s Kinds of Kindless, the latter of which also starred Jesse Plemons as a character who believed that Emma Stone’s character was not who she said she was.
Bugonia keeps you guessing whether Emma Stone’s Michelle Fuller is the victim of a sexist plot by a couple of incels or if there is a nugget of truth to Teddy Gatz’s alien conspiracy theory. Consequently, I spent the entirety of Bugonia wishing that the latter wasn’t true, as it would likely give the wrong message to the wrong people. However, one thing that is apparent in Bugonia is that neither Michelle nor Teddy is a decent human being, as we learn more about both.
Stuck in the middle is Aidan Delbis as Teddy’s cousin Don, who is heavily suggested to be someone on the autism spectrum. It is apparent throughout the film that Don is never all-in on Teddy’s belief that Michelle is an alien, the doubt of which compounds as he watches the latter torture her. In fact, it can be argued that Don is the only truly decent and sympathetic character in the film.
It is difficult to delve deeper into Bugonia without getting into spoiler territory. However, I will say that the film ends up being one of the more cynical of Yorgos Lanthimos‘ recent films. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are people who get downright angry at Bugonia‘s ending.
Trailer for Bugonia
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