Film Reviews

October 31, 2025

"Bugonia" is dark and mischievous, a sort of hybrid horror thriller/science fiction comedy that toys with the audience by making us feel we're both in on its trickery and the victims of it. It also takes some big swings, and while they mostly land, the movie suffers from what director Yorgos Lanthimos' other recent venture, "Poor Things," succumbed to, which is being overly vocal about its messages and themes and relying on stereotypes and gratuitous violence to get a rise out of us. On the whole, though, it's smart, articulate, emotional at times, and the performances ring true. And with a curious hook and steadfast rhythm and energy, the movie is perpetually watchable, even if we find ourselves picking it apart after the fact.

The plot takes place in one of those poorer, nondescript American towns we've all likely passed through on our way to somewhere else, the kind of area with surfeit dollar stores and run-down roads and schools in desperate need of repair. We often forget that smart, hard-working people have their roots in these places, and that many are beholden to a big company that keeps their livelihoods afloat. Throughout "Bugonia," Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan routinely check back in with the mundanity and working-class goings-on of the quiet, unassuming town in which two of the film's central characters reside, a tranquil cross-section of urban and rural landscapes where they exercise, shop, ride their bikes, and tend to their beehives, which sit in the backyard of their creaky, dusty old house that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in the better part of a year. It's no accident these domestic elements contrast with the pair's greater, out-of-this-world ideas.

Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his mentally slower cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) may seem like simpleton workers who are merely towing the line and sustaining themselves with canned and frozen food, but the two are actually planning quite the elaborate scheme. Their mission: kidnap Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), head of Auxolith, a major player in the pharmaceutical industry, which also happens to be Teddy's employer, although as a package filler on an assembly line, he's several grades below Fuller. It's unlikely that she even knows he exists.

Why Teddy and Don want to hold Fuller hostage, we'll get to in a minute, but it's not because of the obvious wealth gap or class differences. We could see this being the case, because Fuller admittedly lives one of those affluent, "anti-aging" lifestyles. She's the sole occupier of an ultra-modern, idyllic house, complete with floor-to-ceiling windows, an indoor pool, and perfect exterior landscaping; she has the luxury of starting her day with intense exercise, a self-defense class, and a red light mask session; and she enjoys a smooth ride in her electric SUV on the way to Auxolith's pristine campus, where she sits in a clean, chic, overly spacious office with a closet that's about as big as Teddy and Don's bedrooms.

Upon first glance, the highly publicized Fuller seems like a one-note character any one of us would love to see knocked down a few rungs on the social ladder, but Will Tracy's screenplay gives her more dimension. Indeed, one of the fresh aspects of "Bugonia," which is actually a remake of a Korean film called "Save the Green Planet!", from writer-director Jang Joon-hwan, is that it doesn't paint Fuller as a standard, helpless victim who's necessarily out of touch with those below her. When Teddy and Don execute their plan, which involves sneaking up behind Fuller and stabbing her with a needle full of a sedative, Fuller fights back. She's not going to take her abduction lying down. What's more is that when she comes to—bald, covered in antihistamine cream, and chained to a cot—she's relatively calm. And judging by the way she explains to Teddy and Don that, as they speak, several tiers of authorities are likely searching for her, it's as if she expected this very situation to happen one day. Instead of expressing anger, fear, or feebleness, Fuller maintains her composure and professionally asks Teddy to "have a dialogue."

But Teddy isn't interested in having a dialogue, not with Fuller possibly cajoling him into letting her go, because he is firmly set in his belief that she is an alien, and he wants her to send a message to her leader, before the lunar eclipse. We learn later on that Teddy's reasons for even entertaining such a notion extend from a deeper-rooted trauma, but either way you slice it, Teddy is truly convinced that Fuller is from the planet Andromeda, and that the Andromedans, as a species, have a sinister plan of their own: to slowly destroy Earth, right down to the nitty gritty such as killing bees, although Fuller tries to explain that bees are back. Fuller, in response—succinctly, eloquently, and surprisingly imperturbably—tells Teddy she's a human, but to no avail. She even flexes her education, and in particular her degree in psychology, by diagnosing Teddy with a mental disorder. Teddy, however, isn't buying it, and on one level, "Bugonia" proceeds down a narrative path not unlike "Misery," which found an obsessed and deranged "number one fan" holding captive and torturing her favorite author, complete with a suspicious cop (Stavros Halkias) nosing around Teddy's property believing something may be afoot.

There is a lot more to "Bugonia," of course, which cannot be revealed, and even though we may suspect what it has in store, the movie does a commendable job of surprising us anyway. Lanthimos and his team lend it that kind of pull, panache, and intrigue. To be clear, much of the film's boldness stems from the original screenplay by Joon-hwan, which was the source of Tracy's adaptation. It unfolds like a brazen science fiction novel and implores us to jump through its wild and often violent and sadistic hoops, which can simultaneously be humorous and entertaining but also disturbing and extreme. It's the kind of material that is fodder for an eccentric director like Lanthimos, who basks in telling stories about odd, colorful people in surreal and often morbid situations. And we indulge in "Bugonia" too, not only because the two leads are so well-matched, but because the music by Jerskin Fendrix and editing by Yorgos Mavropsaridis keeps things moving with such flare and flow. The movie is tight and taut and exhibits a lot of restraint between its spikes of madness and chaos. It's not in a hurry to reveal itself.

But as unconventional and compelling as "Bugonia" is, it has its share of flaws, specifically in the way it goes out of its way to make the audience recoil. This is particularly noticeable in terms of the violence. Lanthimos uses it perversely just to make us squirm, and while some of it works, he goes too far in some cases. Violence is typically best when delivered in small doses and when we don't expect it, but "Bugonia" literally turns up the dial, and it becomes so common that would-be moments of suspense get deflated because we're eventually able to predict the next big shock that transpires. As gifted of a director as Lanthimos is, he often doesn't give the audience enough credit to register what he's trying to convey without underscoring it and putting it right up to our face.

Other things that distract us are the film's use of stereotypes and its real-world parallels, which are too on-the-nose. The overweight cop trope is notably stale, and this character's history with Teddy feels tacked on, especially because it doesn't get properly unpacked. And even though we appreciate the film's stance on topics such as corporate greed, capitalism, social inequality, and for-profit drug companies, it takes a somewhat standard-issue, liberal point of view on them. We can easily name some of the real-life 800-pound gorillas it's criticizing, but its depiction of them is too obvious and trite, and its breakdowns and solutions to the world's problems are too quick and easy. Then again, because this is a satire, perhaps superficial representations are all "Bugonia" needed to get its overarching point across.

These things being said, as a dark, sardonic comedy and thriller, "Bugonia" prevails. It works as a fast, fun, and almost hypnotic ride. It's also bolstered by strong, convincing performances from Plemons and Stone, who not only have great chemistry but convince us "Bugonia" is worthy for the timely and useful "What if..." discussion it sparks. We could listen to Teddy and Michelle talk and debate all day because their conversations are so pointed, fiery, and sharp. Plemons, in particular, establishes himself as a bona fide character here. After this movie, "The Power of the Dog," "Killers of the Flower Moon," and "Civil War," he proves he has the range to make every role he embodies feel unique.

"Bugonia," on the whole, is unique, too, a movie that's funny and saucy but also ripe for serious reflection and discourse. It's clear we're not supposed to agree with all its arguments or how its characters get their comeuppance, but we appreciate that it pokes and prods us to think, even if our resultant thoughts aren't necessarily reassuring or pleasant.test