Bugonia Review: Yorgos Lanthimos is back, and once again, he’s making us question our own sanity. Based on the 2003 Korean cult classic Save the Green Planet, Bugonia takes that story’s bones and rebuilds them into something colder, funnier, and disturbingly relevant.
I went into this one expecting another twisted, high-concept trip like The Favourite or Poor Things, but Bugonia is something else entirely, smaller, sharper, and honestly more human.
My Rating: 3.5/5
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Bugonia |
| Director | Yorgos Lanthimos |
| Based On | Save the Green Planet (2003, South Korea) |
| Cast | Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone |
| Genre | Psychological Drama / Dark Comedy / Sci-Fi |
| Runtime | 1h 58m |
The Story (No Spoilers)
The film follows a conspiracy-obsessed man (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin as they kidnap a powerful CEO (Emma Stone) because they believe she’s an alien controlling the fate of humanity. Sounds absurd, right?
But here’s the thing: the movie plays it straight. Lanthimos doesn’t mock the delusion; he examines it.
You actually start to understand why this guy believes what he believes. The film dives deep into how people lose trust in institutions, how frustration turns into obsession, and how easily the human mind can spin its own “truth” when the world stops making sense.
And when Emma Stone’s CEO tries to reason with him, talking down to him like some rational liberal savior, it just makes the gap between them feel wider. That tension? It’s the movie’s heartbeat.
Performances That Stick With You
Let’s just say this: Jesse Plemons delivers one of the best performances of his career.
He’s terrifying and tragic all at once, a man so convinced of his purpose that it becomes spiritual. Watching him unravel is like watching a bomb tick down in slow motion.
Emma Stone matches him scene for scene. She’s manipulative, intelligent, and constantly one step away from regaining control. Their verbal sparring feels like a chess match where the stakes are the future of humanity, or at least the illusion of it.
Every close-up hits like a confession. Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan shoot these long, tight frames that trap both characters in their beliefs. You can’t look away.
What Works
The movie’s biggest strength is how alive it feels. The conversations crackle, the pacing is tight, and the score by Jerskin Fendrix (yes, the genius behind Poor Things) is wild, going from classical chaos to haunting minimalism in seconds.
It’s also one of Lanthimos’s most visually intimate films. Gone are the lavish sets and costumes of The Favourite. Instead, we get cluttered wooden rooms, worn-down furniture, and sterile corporate halls, physical extensions of these characters’ inner worlds.
Thematically, Bugonia hits hard. It’s about paranoia, class divide, and the loss of faith in humanity. But somehow, by the end, it finds something poetic, almost hopeful, buried under all that madness.
What Doesn’t Work
Not everything lands perfectly.
The CEO’s arc gets a bit muddy toward the end, and the final act, while powerful, leaves you wondering what exactly Lanthimos wants you to take away.
But that’s also kind of the point. Bugonia doesn’t want to give you clean answers. It wants you to sit in the discomfort and decide what you believe.
The Verdict
After watching Bugonia, I walked out with that rare mix of awe and unease.
It’s not an easy movie. It’s not a crowd-pleaser like Poor Things. But it’s one that’ll haunt you, especially if you’ve ever questioned whether humanity is worth saving.
It’s fierce, weird, and unforgettable, easily one of the year’s strongest dramas.
Good & Bad
| What Works (Good) | What Falls Short (Bad) |
|---|---|
| Jesse Plemons gives a career-best performance. | The ending is a bit confusing and open-ended. |
| Emma Stone’s dialogue scenes are electric. | Some thematic points get tangled in the last act. |
| Tight, intimate direction from Lanthimos. | Less visually grand than his previous works. |
| Brilliant, haunting score by Jerskin Fendrix. | Not a crowd-pleaser; more for patient viewers. |
| Sharp commentary on class and belief. | A few moments feel stretched out. |
Final Thoughts
If Poor Things was Lanthimos’s wild, colorful fever dream, Bugonia is his quiet scream into the void. It’s a film about broken faith — in people, in systems, in yourself, but it’s also about what still makes us human when everything else collapses.
Is it perfect? No.
Is it powerful? Absolutely.
And honestly, I’ll take a messy, meaningful movie over a polished, forgettable one any day.
