Bugonia

Okay so I have a love-hate relationship with Yorgos Lanthimos. He is either brilliant, or he’s a self indulgent mess with no message of any kind and there really doesn’t seem to be any in between. So watching his movies is tedious. That said he always manages to pull in actors that I love so I always bite the bullet and watch whatever he puts out. This year's entry is Bugonia. And from a hit or miss director this one is a hit.

Every director has their favorites and Yorgos’ fit his entire vibe. Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone are very talented actors who are uniquely attractive and good at the weird shit that Yorgos pumps out.

The shots with Emma Stone being cut into the narration is great storytelling. Incredible writing and editing.

Jesse Plemons looks like he lost a lot of weight for this role.

So I know that there is obviously a weird, supernatural kind of angle here but strictly based off the narration at the very beginning this feels very obviously like a commentary on the elite. I love it when Yorgos actually has a theme and a message, that’s when he’s good.

I will say that I appreciate that Yorgos has a visual style, I love being able to look at a single frame of a film and know who directed it. Everyone knows when they're watching a Wes Anderson film, everyone knows when they're watching a Sofia Coppola film and everyone knows when they're watching a Yorgos Lanthimos film.

The fact that Emma plays a high powered business woman only reinforces the commentary angle.

I love when Yorgos gives us unique shots like the one through the pool. We are seeing and hearing it like we are in the pool room and it just breaks up the monotony of what most films do and I love it.

The other thing that Yorgos Lanthimos is good at is getting actors to do weird shit. I admire that because that means that regardless of how I feel about his storytelling abilities it means that he creates a safe space for his cast and he has the ability to foster the relationships necessary for these actors to explore these worlds. It's really incredible. And I think the actors in his films are especially talented. Because doing realistic, grounded stories is quite frankly, easy. As an actor that is the bare minimum. But to do something like this, and anything Yorgos has done takes a level of commitment I don’t think most actors are capable of.

“Even if it was a human…it's still evil”, societal commentary confirmed, thank you very much.

The choice to shave Emma Stone’s head and slather her in lotion while somehow keeping her lipstick maintained was certainly interesting.

I love when Yorgos has commentary because he always takes it to the extreme and puts a spin on it (like aliens) that actually reinforces his theme. The backdrop of this being that rich people are inhuman is literally genius.

Also the daily transitions being an image of flat earth is incredible.

And then when they finally sit down and talk she attempts to gaslight him into believing that corporations are in fact not behind the destruction of society and earth itself. This might be the best “eat the rich” commentary that exists.

“You can’t beat me because I am a winner and you are a loser” - sums up how the ultra rich think about the rest of us pretty good actually.

He’s just riding through town covered in blood, there is no way this dude doesn’t get caught now. How did no one stop him on his way into this care facility?

Homegirl is taking way too long to escape.

Sorry got caught up in the narrative, back to the commentary. This elitist sent him to kill his own mother, using his weakness and mental illness against him. Truly impeccable writing.

The “alien” justifying her “species” attitude towards humans is an excellent articulation of the theme without monologuing about how rich people are bad. I love that. Normally explicitly stating a theme at the end of a film pisses me off to no end but because Yorgos shrouded his commentary in weird shit like he does, he was able to do it without stepping on the rest of the movie.

Her actually being an alien is in fact the best way to reinforce the theme. Dude was portrayed as mentally ill, and unstable; the way that most elitists and bootlickers attempt to portray anyone who opposes them. But he was right. And she is in fact evil.

Honestly the movie could have probably ended with her waking up on her alien ship. I feel like that was enough to really get the message across. Yorgos has the same problem a lot of film makers do as in they don’t know when to shut up. You’ve made your point, now stop talking. Continuing after the point has been made really just kills the film. I think he wanted to hammer home that if we continue to bow down to the elite we are all doomed but I do feel like that was evident before. But I suppose you have to spoon feed it cause the general public lacks common sense and critical thinking skills.

Overall it was an incredible film, Yorgos’ 2025 entry is a hit. I can overlook personal preference and give it a 10/10.