The films of Yorgos Lanthimos are always just slightly off. On the surface, they look sort of normal, but just below that, there’s something unexpected. A man looking for love, but if he doesn’t find it, he’s turned into an animal. A woman explores her sexual prime, but actually, she’s a reanimated corpse. Those sorts of things. Bugonia, the latest from the talented filmmaker, is kind of that, but also not. It’s got a weird twist to it, but the twist, this time, is the point. The whole film is centered on this question of how to perceive what’s happening, and by focusing on that weirdness, Lanthimos has created a film with tension, poignancy, and accessibility that’s beyond pretty much all of his previous films. It’s phenomenal.
Teddy and Don (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) are cousins who live together somewhere in rural America. They’ve had a rough life, which, in Teddy’s case in particular, has made him very susceptible to blaming others. And, in blaming others, he’s become obsessed with a conspiracy theory that aliens live among us and intend to take over the planet. One of those aliens, Teddy thinks, is Michelle (Emma Stone), the CEO of a powerful pharmaceutical company. Teddy then convinces his cousin Don to help him kidnap Michelle, hoping she’ll put them in contact with other aliens so they can save the world.
The main cast of Bugonia. – Focus
Only Michelle isn’t an alien, right? Is she? She couldn’t be. That’s the line that runs right down the middle of Bugonia, allowing for three incredible performances that explore it in every imaginable way. For Teddy, Michelle is an alien. Everything she says to the contrary is exactly what an alien would say. He only sees what he wants to see and believes what he wants to believe. For Michelle, she’s not an alien, but even with her incredibly smart, polished, corporate way of life, she gets increasingly frustrated as she offers Teddy argument after argument in her defense. They’re both right in their own minds—only, we know, one has to be wrong.
All this, of course, feels somehow ripped right out of the headlines. This is Pizzagate. This is the “Russia Hoax.” This is election tampering. But no matter where you stand on any of those things, Lanthimos never quite takes a side either way. One person can watch the entire movie and remain skeptical of both Teddy and Michelle. Another might watch it and only side with one or the other. The matter-of-fact direction, largely confined to a single house, allows both Plemons and Stone to shine and pour their all into their pursuit of the truth, and it’s riveting to watch.
Even with those two powerhouses going at it, though, the real heart of the film is Don. It’s never explicitly stated if anything is wrong with Don, but there might be. He’s slow. He’s soft-spoken. He seems to have trouble grasping most of Teddy’s narratives. But he loves Teddy. Teddy is his only family. And so Don goes along with him even though he seems much less sure of Michelle’s true nature than his cousin. Delbis’ understated, innocent performance inserts an emotional lightning rod into the middle of the scenario, which challenges each of the other characters multiple times. He gives the film a soul that elevates the already dynamic story.
Emma Stone in Bugonia. – Focus Features
A few other characters come in and out of the film, such as a sheriff played by Stavros Halkias and flashbacks featuring Teddy’s mom played by Alicia Silverstone. Most of the time, though, Bugonia is largely a three-hander, which creates edge-of-your-seat tension. There’s also humor. There are also scares. And as the film finally peels back its most secretive and revealing layers, it becomes something else entirely. A twist on a twist that thankfully doesn’t overpower the rest of the movie, instead working wonders to bolster it.
Some people may think the films of Yorgos Lanthimos are too weird. Not quite mainstream. Bugonia is his most mainstream film by a mile, and it’s still every bit as weird and fantastical as his previous work. Credit the biting script by writer Will Tracy (The Menu, Succession), based on a 2003 South Korean film called Save the Green Planet! Credit the wildly varied but always remarkable score by Jerskin Fendrix. Credit the award-worthy performances by Stone, Plemons, and Delbis. Then, of course, credit Lanthimos, who put it all together in a movie that’s fun as hell, incredibly of the moment, and impossible to forget.
Bugonia is now open in limited release. It opens wide on October 31.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.