Bugonia is not a film for the faint of heart. Based on the 2003 South Korean movie Save the Green Planet! this modern version is a black comedy/sci-fi/thriller directed by Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos whose previous cinematic work includes The Lobster (2015), The Favourite (2018), Poor Things (2023), and Kinds of Kindness (2024). It stars Oscar winner Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad and Friday Night Lights), and Aidan Delbis (in his first feature film role). The screenplay was adapted by Will Tracy, former editor in chief of the satirical newspaper The Onion.
Bugonia is characterized by saturated color, long tracking shots, odd characters, dark comedy, and sudden eruptions of graphic violence. Lanthimos’ off kilter sensibility is put to optimum use in the movie as the plot is guaranteed to keep viewers engaged, on edge, and uncertain right up until the film’s breathtaking final moments.
Bugonia’s narrative centers on a pair of socially isolated conspiracy obsessed incel characters; Teddy Gatz (played by Plemons) and his intellectually challenged and easily manipulated cousin Don (Delbis). The hapless pair hatch a plan to abduct Michelle Fuller (Stone), the high-powered corporate CEO of Auxolith, a major pharmaceutical company, under the belief that she is part of an alien race known as the Andromedans who are responsible for destroying the Earth and subjugating the human race. Once Teddy and Don succeed at abducting Fuller they immediately shave her head believing that her fellow aliens can’t track her without her long locks. After imprisoning the high-powered female executive in Teddy’s isolated farmhouse basement the kidnappers coat her body with antihistamine cream in an attempt to prevent her from contacting her alien mothership.
Jesse Plemons is superb in the film as he brings life to the character of Teddy; a deeply troubled man plagued by social isolation and mental illness and haunted by his mother’s sickness and his own abuse at the hands of Casey, a local cop who later justifies his past behavior by stating that he never did “that” to anyone else. Teddy works at a low-level job and busies himself with his beekeeping hobby. Throughout the film it’s clear that Teddy sees himself as a hero and his criminal activity springs not from greed or a lust for power but rather by his steadfast belief that alien overlords are responsible for the degeneration and downfall of life on Earth. From Teddy’s point of view abducting Fuller is the key to saving humanity from being destroyed by aliens. Teddy believes that after years of intensive research he’s managed to figure out the secret not only behind the disappearing bee population but in turn the troubling fate awaiting humanity at the hands of an alien race.
Teddy is so steadfast in his beliefs that he recruits Don to join him in his rigorous exercise regime to strengthen his body as well as undergoing DIY chemical castration meant to keep his mind pure and avoid possible mind control efforts by aliens. He views kidnapping Fuller as being essential in his efforts to communicate with the aliens and thus work to ensure that they spare the planet from ultimate destruction. Teddy’s heroic ideations are apparent after Fuller regains unconsciousness only to find herself chained to a cot in the bleak basement of his rural home. Awoken from her drug induced haze Teddy greets his captive by saying, “Welcome to the headquarters of the human resistance.” Not long afterward he reveals his plan to force her to contact her mother ship and arrange a meeting between himself and the alien emperor in order to forge an agreement to save the planet; all of which can only take place during the upcoming lunar eclipse.
Bugunia is a peculiar film which features moments of absurdist humor as well as scenes depicting outbursts of grotesque over the top bloody violence. The script also features several pop culture references that add to the oddly unhinged yet timely feel of the film. During the kidnapping sequence for example Teddy and Don are clad in identical Jennifer Aniston masks. Their attempts to capture Fuller are shot from a distance which lends the sequence an almost slapstick quality that’s in sharp contrast to the ultra-seriousness of the life and death themes throughout the film.
Interestingly the film’s title refers to an ancient Greek myth involving bees spontaneously rising out of the carcass of a dead cow. The word bugonia, which translates to “ox birth”, involves an archaic ritual mentioned in Virgil’s poem Georgics published in approximately 29 BCE. According to this ancient belief the ritualistic sacrifice of a cow would result in the impromptu generation of bees and thus provide a way in which beekeepers could naturally replenish their beehives. The title might be interpreted simply as a reference to Teddy’s beekeeping hobby or in a more profound reading it could be seen in terms of serving as a larger metaphor involving the need for a blood sacrifice in order to facilitate the rebirth of a species. In this way Bugonia strives to draw a parallel between the fate of humanity and the disappearing bee population.
Bugonia is a layered multi-faceted and thought-provoking film which defies easy or predictable explanations or interpretations. The film’s complexity succeeds at reeling the viewer into an exploration of reality, life, free will, and humanity’s relationship with the world around us. The only way to fully appreciate Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest work is to watch it with an open mind. The film resists predictability as just when you think you’ve figured it out the script throws a curve ball. The acting is superb with Stone and Plemons delivering top notch performances as complex, multi-layered characters each striving to outwit the other and survive in an uncertain reality where nothing is as it seems.
Bugonia is playing now in Montreal
