Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 118 mins

Bugonia is the new Yorgos Lanthimos film, who is coming off a high with both Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness making in into my top three best films of 2024. Lanthimos’s films are always memorable, with bold themes and deadpan delivery from the cast. Here, Lanthimos remakes a 2003 South Korean film called Save The Green Planet!, where two men kidnap a CEO because they suspect she is secretly an alien who wants to destroy the earth. The director reunites for the fourth time with Emma Stone, who plays Michelle Fuller, the ill-fated CEO of a pharmaceutical company who is abducted by conspiracy theorist Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) and his disabled brother Don (Aidan Delbis).

Bugonia is yet another thought-provoking work from Lanthimos, packing plenty of surprises and thrills up its sleeve. This is a film that keeps you second-guessing throughout with its complex characters and striking visuals, and like lots of his work, it’ll take multiple watches to fully unpack. I’ve always found Lanthimos is at his best when he’s on scriptwriting duties with his co-writer Efthimis Filippou (they co-wrote Dogtooth, Alps, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Kinds of Kindness together) with their arch dialogue. It’s why The Favourite didn’t fully work for me. And although Will Tracy’s script isn’t quite as arch as what Lanthimos and Filippou would conjure, I didn’t notice the writing as much as I did in The Favourite.

While Emma Stone is reliably excellent as Michelle, it’s Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis that really stand out as the abductors. Plemons is scarily convincing as the unkempt Teddy, who constantly takes advantage of his cousin with his conspiracy theories and has a very short fuse – I hope he’s recognised come Awards season. Delbis is equally brilliant in his debut role, brilliantly balancing the vulnerability of his disability with a clear sense of right and wrong. Stavros Halkias is also excellent as Casey, a charismatic police officer who cares about Teddy and Don’s welfare.

Robbie Ryan’s cinematography is outstanding, shooting the film in VistaVision with a vivid colour palette. Bugonia is particularly beautiful if you watch it in 35mm, which I was fortunate enough to experience. Jerskin Fendrix, who seems to also becoming Lanthimos’ new composer of choice given this is his third collaboration, turns in a career-best score. The monumental score beautifully compliments the events on-screen, upping the intensity with memorable themes.

Bugonia is yet another excellent film from Lanthimos that kept me gripped throughout with its fascinating story, memorable performances and stunning visuals. It’s suitably nasty when it needs to be with its outbursts of violence and poetic in its themes. I’m not sure it’s quite as haunting as his best work – a rewatch will determine if that’s true – but this is still a fearsomely original work that’s a must-see on the big screen.