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Bugonia (2025)

 

Bugonia is Yorgos Lanthimos' fifth film that I've seen. This time it's about a woman abducted by two conspiratorial men who think she's an alien from the galaxy of Andromeda.

Lanthimos had a wild ride with Poor Things and The Lobster. While Kinds of Kindness and The Favourite were more tame, Bugonia is a wild ride from beginning to end and is so tightly written and directed that there are no scenes that are out of place or unintentional. Perhaps it's the screenplay done by the writer of The Menu which I still need to see. Perhaps it was source material done by Jang Joon-hwan who hasn't really done much in America, though looking at the movie Save the Green Planet! it doesn't appear to be so.

While the direction and writing is superb the film wouldn't be anything without the amazing performance of the postered woman, Emma Stone. This isn't her first time working with Lanthimos either, but it's easily my favorite performance of hers. She was in both Kinds of Kindness and Poor Things. She carries her weight of the film without any flaws.

Jesse Plemons plays the main abductor, Teddy and I really lose him in the film. He plays the role of the alien obsessed conspiracy theorist to a magnificent perfection. You'll remember him from Game Night, but it was also in Kinds of Kindness and I'm Thinking of Ending Things, which he was great in both.

I don't say this often but I really think about this movie a lot, and I haven't given this score since 2019 but the film is perfect. Result: A+

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