Yorgos Lanthimos’ science fiction dark comedy, “Bugonia,” made its debut in theaters on Friday. The film is Lanthimos’ second to star Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, the first being last year’s “Kinds of Kindness.” The screenplay is written by Will Tracy, a former editor-in-chief of the satirical news outlet “The Onion,” who brings ripe satirical commentary to the film.
Based on a South Korean comedy horror-thriller, “Bugonia” centers around the kidnapping of a biomedical executive, Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone). The kidnappers — cousins Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis) — are convinced Fuller is an “Andromedan” alien.
According to Teddy, who has indoctrinated his neurodivergent cousin, the Andromedans are secret overlords of the world who have essentially enslaved the human race.
The cousins take various precautions to avoid Fuller’s supposed telepathic powers, including chemically castrating themselves, shaving her head and coating her body in an antihistamine lotion. Fuller’s resulting appearance — pasty, pale and bald — exaggerates the sheer absurdity of Teddy’s insistence that she must arrange a meeting with the Andromedan emperor on the lunar eclipse.
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While Teddy’s theory is ridiculous, his 3D renderings of the aliens’ “mothership” and complicated machinery indicates he genuinely believes they are theories based in rational scientific evidence. Don, on the other hand, voices his misgivings about the kidnapping every step of the way, while reluctantly following Teddy’s lead.
There is a clear, purposeful contrast created in the film between the rational and irrational. The only consistent voice of reason comes from Don, despite his communication difficulties. Teddy, on the other hand, spouts irrational concepts with the conviction of a divinely-annointed prophet.
The contrast presented in Teddy and Don’s dialogue is a masterful stab at the rise of pseudoscientific conspiracy theories that thrive in online echo chambers. The way Teddy legitimizes his theories resembles other pseudoscientific conspiracy movements, like those surrounding 5G, vaccines and EMF waves.
Pseudoscience is just the tip of the iceberg, though, when it comes to the social commentary in “Bugonia.” Throughout the film, colorless flashbacks of Teddy’s childhood abruptly fill the screen while loud, dissonant sci-fi music shocks the system. The flashbacks reveal a clinical trial by Fuller’s company, Auxolith, is responsible for putting Teddy’s mother into a permanent coma.
Stone’s performance embodies the heartlessness required for a human to make billions of dollars selling hope to sick patients. That is the crux of the film itself — the evil is happening in front of Teddy’s eyes, not in a galaxy far away.
A similar predicament happens in contemporary conspiracy theorist circles, too. Corporations openly donate billions of dollars to politicians in exchange for favorable legislation. Yet, some theorists choose to believe that the real problem in politics comes from a shadowy “deep state” made up of elites that harvest children’ s adrenochrome.
“Bugonia” picks up on this strange phenomenon in a film that keeps viewers enthralled for two hours straight. Moments of dark levity from an out-of-touch Fuller highlight the crudeness of reality, while ethereal sci-fi scenescapes exaggerate Teddy’s refusal to ground himself in reality. Lanthimos, with his picturesque — and sometimes unsettling — cinematic style, is the perfect director for this screenplay.
Emma Stone’s performance leaves no question as to why she has won the Academy Award for Best Actress on two occasions. Jesse Plemons, on the other hand, makes a compelling case in this film for Best Actor.
Unlike most films, Lanthimos presents viewers with two endings to choose from in “Bugonia.” The viewer can accept the reality of a broken, conspiratorial man exacting revenge on the soulless company that put his mother into a coma. Or, the viewer can embrace the fantasy Teddy created to cope with the maiming of his mother and join Fuller on her spaceship.
The choice is yours.
