Bugonia: A Review (Review #2065)

BUGONIA

They are among us. There are those who believe that there is life outside of our humble planet. A subset of those believers hold that these aliens are not watching us from beyond the stars. Instead, they live among us. At the very least, they built the Pyramids both in Giza and in the Yucatan among other great wonders. Bugonia takes this premise and gives us wild, funny and surprisingly tragic take on the benevolence and malevolence of these things from another world.

Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) is well-versed in various conspiracy theories. His most recent one involves Auxoleth Corporation's CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone). He believes that she is not a 45-year-old woman. She is, rather, an Andromedan, an extraterrestrial who is here for nefarious work on humanity. He gets his intellectually disabled cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) to kidnap Michelle when she returns to her estate.

Teddy and Don have shaved Michelle's head and coated her with antihistamine cream to prevent her from contacting the mothership. Teddy's plan is to use Michelle as a bargaining chip with the Andromedan Emperor who will be coming in four days' time. Teddy insists that Michelle take Teddy and Don onto the mothership to negotiate for humanity. Michelle, finding all of this bonkers, insists that she is not an alien. She also reminds them that due to her position, a major manhunt will take place to find her.

As Bugonia continues, the audience finds many mysteries and layers to the story. Auxoleth, a pharmaceutical corporation, has treated Teddy's mother Sandy (Alicia Silverstone) for her addictions. The drug tests, unfortunately, left Sandy in a comatose state. Teddy works as a packer for Auxoleth, where he secretly delights in seeing news reports of Michelle's disappearance. Michelle soon matches wits with both Teddy and Don. 

Teddy soon comes to the conclusion that Michelle is not a mere Andromedan functionary but a member of the Andromedan Royal Family. This grants her some limited privileges, but it still puts her in danger. As the date of the lunar eclipse comes closer, who will win out in this struggle? Will bumbling sheriff Casey (Stavros Halkios), Teddy's former babysitter who probably abused him as a child, stumble upon the truth? Will Michelle manipulate Teddy into literally murdering Sandy albeit unintentionally? Is Michelle what she appears to be? More wild turns take place until the lunar eclipse comes upon Earth. In the end, we are left to ask Where Have All the Flowers Gone? with no one left to answer.

Bugonia is a remake of the South Korean film Save the Green Planet! which I have not seen. Will Tracy's screen adaptation manages to work well in keeping the story going with one turn after another. The film spends the first part giving us Teddy's beliefs and methodical manner in planning this alien abduction. As Bugonia continues, we see how Teddy became so apparently unhinged. He at one point tells Michelle that he has shifted in conspiratorial worldviews. He has gone from alt-right to Marxist beliefs in an apparent attempt to find the truth. We also learn of the various tragedies that have befallen Teddy. His mother is in a coma resulting from Auxoleth's actions. Casey, though not overtly saying so, asks Teddy for forgiveness for what Casey did to him when Teddy was a child. 

As such, Bugonia makes a strong case that Teddy's actions and thinking are a result of the various traumas that he has suffered. This is carried by Jesse Plemons' performance. Rarely does Plemons behave as a nutter. For the most part, he is eerily calm and rational for a man whose actions are anything but. There are a few times when his emotions get the best of him. Of particular note is when he becomes violently murderous towards Michelle. His eccentric calmness makes this already frightening scene more effective. His mix of tears and terror when he is attempting to save his mother is a highlight of Plemons' performance.

He is more than matched by Emma Stone. She runs the gamut of emotions. Michelle is many things. She is insincere and prickly in her efforts to make a promotional video. She is removed when first realizing that she has been abducted. We see her briefly via surveillance cameras break down emotionally. Michelle can be curt, pleading, dismissive and ultimately distressed at the end result of the human experience. Stone gives us a sense of tragedy about the human condition. 

Aidan Delbis and Stavros Halkias did well in their smaller roles. While I would not call them standout performances, both of them were efficient. At certain points, the relationship between Teddy and Don felt reminiscent of the Lenny and George relationship in Of Mice and Men. I do not know if that was intentional or not. I think Halkias was the weakest performance. He seemed nervous in Bugonia, as if he was unsure about his abilities to act. While I grant that Casey tiptoeing around his probable child abuse of Teddy is uncomfortable, he felt pretty much that way even at the end. 

As a side note, I was surprised by how relatively small the cast was. It is mainly four people: Teddy, Michelle, Dan and Casey. While there are other characters, they are pretty much irrelevant to the story.

One thing that did surprise me was how sometimes Bugonia was funny. The bumbling abduction and Teddy's final moments were amusing even if the latter was a bit grisly. I would put it down to how director Yorgos Lanthimos filmed it. Credit should also be given to how Lanthimos and Tracy kept the audience in suspense as to where the truth stood. I do not think that what might be a twist turns out the way it did is shocking. At least it was, at least within Bugonia, not totally out of left field.

The film also has a strong Jerskin Fendrix score that keeps to the eccentric tone of Bugonia (no pun intended). 

I would quibble with a few elements. While Robbie Ryan's cinematography was strong, I think shifting from color to black-and-white was a bit much. I also question how Teddy's past adventures with Andromedans came to be. 

Overall, though, Bugonia is a strong and at times amusing film. There is something of a tragic element to it when it comes to the foolishness of man. It does play with eccentric ideas of alien involvement when it comes to us Tellurians. Strong performances from Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone elevate Bugonia. When will they ever learn? That, sadly, remains to be seen. 

DECISION: B+