'Bugonia' Review: does Lanthimos return to his best?
Bugonia Review
Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
Yorgos Lanthimos is one of my favourite modern directors. Killing Of A Sacred Deer and The Lobster are both classics, their strange energy a product of his background in experimental theatre. Some think his work went wayward with Kinds Of Kindness or even Poor Things and have praised today’s film as a return to form. I’m here to tell you if that’s the case or whether we’re looking at another misfire.
Bugonia is a straighter black comedy than his previous films, with the exception of The Favourite. Its satire is much more direct than that of The Lobster’s pitch-black dystopia but the film lacks the previous surreal performances demonstrated by Colin Farrell or Barry Keoghan. It’s perhaps his most conventional film in the sense that he’s grounded the tone in familiar, touchstones of capitalist exploitation, corporate-speak and environmental apocalypse. The opening montage highlights the class differences in Teddy and Don’s (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis, respectively) preparation for the kidnapping of Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) with her own daily routine. This is head-on by Lanthimos’ standards. Would he have done this in his previous, independent films?
That’s not to say the satire isn’t effective at times. The cold self-preservation of Stone in her scenes negotiating with Plemons’ passionate, swivel-eyed performance contrasts brilliantly and creates the film’s best scenes. It highlights the vast chasm between the two with just their use of language. Dialogue throughout the film is sharp and economical, the mark of a seasoned writer and director.
There are many small moments of comedy that stem from character and performance that outshine the “bigger” satirical moments of the film. Delbis in particular is great at this, his cow-towed cousin act being a treat to watch. For fans of a certain podcast Stavros Halkias’ clingy cop will undoubtedly be a must-see. I was stunned by how good he was. Well done Stav.
The most energetic (and polarising) part of the film is the final twenty minutes. Lanthimos turns everything up to eleven and allows Bugonia to go wild. The choice Lanthimos makes is interesting. I didn’t see it coming but considering how unambiguous the satire is, and a few choice moments of black and white surrealism aside, perhaps I should’ve. It weakens his message. Instead of keeping to the grounded tone, allowing the reality of the world he’s created play out, Lanthimos takes a broad swing at the obvious. Whether that ruins the film for you will depend on how much you enjoyed the director’s previous work Poor Things. It didn’t spoil the film for me, I enjoyed the rest and I couldn’t let myself be swayed.
There’s been a handful of recent films, One Battle After Another and Eddington in particular, that take aim at the modern world in ways that we haven’t seen before. I’m yet to watch the latter but One Battle tackled it to perfection and will likely be looked back on as a defining film of the decade. Will Bugonia be seen as that? Considering it’s a remake of the 2003 Korean film Save The Green Planet! which, whilst depressingly timely over two decades later, does diminish its potential as a historical or cultural document of this time.
I don’t think Lanthimos set out to do that though. The message may be broad; the choices may be questionable; the look may be Yorgos-by-numbers; but its a lot better than most. He made a film that he’s been making and perfecting for years now. A dark satirical comedy with Emma Stone.
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