Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Bugonia’ Is a Grotesquely Entertaining Carnival of Idiocy [Venice]

The review embargo lifted on “Bugonia” and it’s earning good reviews — 79 on Metacritic, based on 11 reviews.

I will say, this is an entertaining film, nary a dull moment in it, but far from Lanthimos’ best work. The film comes off too easy, and mechanical, rather than invigorating and fresh.

Buried in the end credits, almost like an afterthought, Lanthimos admits that “Bugonia” is a remake of Jang Joon Hwan’s wild 2003 cult film “Save the Green Planet!” — though anyone who’s seen that one will already be way ahead of him.

The plot is simple enough: two bumbling conspiracy theorists kidnap a high-powered CEO, convinced she’s an alien bent on destroying the Earth. From there, Lanthimos spins his signature absurdism, pairing off-kilter tension with grotesque humor.

The film is, in many ways, a bloody, ultra-violent burst in human idiocy. Emma Stone is magnetic as the slick CEO, while Jesse Plemons commits fully to the delusions of his character. Aidan Delbus, as Plemons’ sidekick, is more one-note, his moronic loyalty occasionally flattening the comic tension.

There is an abundance of themes bubbling loudly beneath the surface—corporate greed, societal chaos, alienation—but if you’ve seen the Korean original, nothing here is particularly surprising. Those who haven’t might be more surprised by the twists and turns.

That said, Lanthimos’ style remains undeniably entertaining. At times, it’s irresistible; at times, perhaps too slick. Stone and Plemons are totally game — she’s a slick corporate, radiating menace, but the whole thing has the air of a director passing time, dabbling between bigger ambitions.

The highlight comes in the final stretch, when the kidnapping plot accelerates, and the film’s brand of silly violence hits its stride. Lanthimos and co-writer Will Tracy continue to explore society’s breakdown, though the message is heavy-handed: we live in a world in chaos, and perhaps we deserve it.

Lanthimos once shocked us with the bracing weirdness of “Dogtooth” and the perversity of “The Favourite.” Here, he seems content to give us something “quirky” and “edgy” in quotes.

In the end, “Bugonia” is less about surprise than spectacle, less about narrative invention than performance and tonal daring. Stone and Plemons anchor the madness, making the film a curious exercise in madness, sometimes exhausting—a typical Lanthimos concoction, for better or worse.