Bugonia
2025
***½
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone, J. Carmen Galindez Barrera
Teddy is a young troubled man obsessed with conspiracy theories. Assisted by his cousin Don, he kidnaps a powerful pharmaceutical CEO, convinced that she is secretly an Andromedan alien intent on destroying Earth. Yorgos Lanthimos' dark comedy is a remake of the 2003 South Korean science-fiction comedy Save the Green Planet!. It examines corporate power and conspiracy culture, but ultimately unfolds as a rather underwhelming shaggy-dog story, leaving me unsure what to think about people like Teddy. The film is visually striking and consistently intriguing, though never particularly fun to watch. Easier to admire than to enjoy, perhaps. As is often the case with Lanthimos' work, the performances are excellent. The soundtrack by Jerskin Fendrix is powerful but used in a weird fashion.
