Bugonia – Film Review
by Fran Winston

Director – Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers – Will Tracy, Jang Joon-hwan
Stars – Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Emma Stone

In cinemas October 31

Prior to watching this film, I had seen the trailers and posters, but I still had no real idea what it was about.  Obviously, I knew it featured two men, Teddy Gatz (Plemons) and his neurodivergent cousin Don (Deblis), who kidnap Michelle Fuller (Stone), the CEO of pharmaceutical company Auxolith and hold her captive. It was obvious from the trailers that they believed she was an alien, and they even shaved her hair to prevent her from contacting her “mother ship”.

However, the trailers didn’t make it look like a sustainable idea – two hours of them interrogating her about her home planet was not an appealing thought. And the posters didn’t seem to relate to this in the least, focusing on the sci-fi element.

Even the title seems to have nothing to do with the story. It is an ancient Greek ritual and belief that bees were spontaneously generated from the carcass of a dead ox. It literally means “ox birth”

I didn’t find this hugely surprising as Yorgos’s absurdist style means his movies don’t tend to have a linear narrative, but even by his usual standards, this seemed somewhat unpredictable.

I wasn’t exactly filled with excitement going into it, but it left me pleasantly surprised. There are far more twists and turns than the promotional material would have you believe. Teddy actually works for Michelle’s company, and his mother is in a coma due to one of their drugs, which fleshes out the story.

Plemons and Stone are brilliant together, and their scenes manage to find the balance between intensity and comedy while the presence of the naive and suggestible Don ups the stakes as he empathises with their hostage.

Predominantly set in Teddy and Don’s home, this has a claustrophobic feel that draws you further into the story, and overall, it is extremely engaging. Well, except for the final five minutes, which I personally felt were unnecessary as the story had an organic endpoint.

Despite this, I enjoyed this far more than I expected. The performances are acting masterclasses, and the dialogue is sharp. It is somewhat preachy about the state of the planet, but given that Ted is a conspiracy theorist, this is acceptable. An entertaining watch that didn’t need the final scenes.