Bugonia

Michelle (Emma Stone) is accused of being a nefarious alien in Bugonia (Distributed by Focus Features)

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the most fascinating filmmakers working today. Everything he does is strange, darkly funny, thought-provoking and intriguing. He can be tremendous or off-putting (frequently, he is both), but he couldn’t make a boring movie if he tried. The Favourite and Poor Things are great and all of his work has something to recommend it. His latest, the conspiracy themed Bugonia, is engaging, weird and not always successful at getting its points across in a focused way, yet, as usual, Lanthimos is very dedicated to his concept.

Creating an enemy to explain your personal struggles is an epidemic these days and this screenplay mixes that with climate change fears, class inequality and gender conflicts in a way that is undoubtedly different. There are stretches that are great, some that feel overly repetitive and an ending that I’m not quite sure how I feel about. That’s Yorgos Lanthimos for you.

Michelle Fuller is a high-powered CEO of a pharmaceutical company that has been accused of harming the environment. Teddy is a sad, angry man, who has decided that Michelle is the reason his life, all life really, is a disaster. You see, he is convinced she is an alien sent to Earth to destroy it, killing every human in the process. So, Teddy, along with his loyal cousin Don, kidnap Michelle so they can get to the truth and save the Earth.

Bugonia (112 minutes, without the end credits) could be a farce with that premise. Instead, it is a dark comedy, with sci-fi undertones that may or may not be real. It approaches serious issues, then kind of undercuts them, intentionally. Is Lanthimos mocking these things? Or his characters? Possibly. It is hard to tell. It is usually hard to tell with him. Is Teddy a moron? Or is his desperation at finding a solution to his trauma relatable? If Michelle is an alien and her species is invading the Earth, then Teddy is a hero. If she isn’t, then he is a criminal. What the filmmakers think about this is almost more interesting to ponder than what unfolds on screen.

Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis) try to save the Earth

Michelle can be seen as a metaphor for the careless greed of big pharma. She could also be symbolic of the type of misogyny that powerful women face. Bugonia is a remake of the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet! Lanthimos and screenwriter Will Tracy made the choice to change the gender of the CEO character from male to female. That does make a difference in how we view their dynamic, something Michelle touches upon in her initial speech trying to reason her way out of the situation.

Seeing her attempt to remain in control using corporate-speak while chained in Teddy’s basement after being shaved bald (aliens use their hair to communicate with their mothership) is sort of powerful, especially if she is who she says she is. If she is human, she is likely a key cog in the soulless corporate machine, though that doesn’t mean she deserves what is happening to her, despite Teddy’s justifications. If she isn’t, that raises a whole other set of questions about responsibility and intention. In this scenario, do humans deserve what they get for what we have done to this planet and to each other?

These questions certainly make for an entertaining movie. The performances by Jesse Plemons, as Teddy, and Emma Stone, as Michelle, hold the screen with ease. Their verbal duels are captivating. While there are funny moments, the humor made me a little uncomfortable at times because it was difficult to pinpoint what it is directed at. That discomfort is par for the course for Yorgos Lanthimos. As is the unique way he explores his concepts.

3¼ out of 5

Cast:

Emma Stone as Michelle

Jesse Plemons as Teddy

Aidan Delbis as Don

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Screenplay by Will Tracy