When director Yorgos Lanthimos achieved his first proper mainstream success in 2018 with his film “The Favourite,” I became a bit weary of his future career path as I was worried he would begin to lose his peculiar sense of humor and storytelling in favor of commercial success. I am happy to report that after viewing his new film, “Bugonia,” I could not have been more wrong.
Based on the 2003 Korean film “Save the Green Planet!,” Lanthimos’ fourth collaboration with Emma Stone pushes bold and creative boundaries and provides a searing commentary on global class dynamics and critiques of corporate America.
By delving into the more fantastical elements of the story, Lanthimos does not sacrifice any of his artistic merit as he tackles his biggest production yet ($45 million to $50 million). Because the sets for the film are quite minimal, I expected the budget to be significantly smaller, but after seeing how intricate and beautiful the production design and cinematography are, you can tell exactly how the budget was spent.
The two strongest aspects of the film are by far its writing and acting. The main trio of the film (Stone, Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) give strong and convincing performances that complement the material incredibly well. Because the screenplay is very technical and dialogue heavy, it would have been extremely easy for the film to appear pretentious and for the performances to be flat. But through the approach of the actors, the writing is elevated in every regard to match the quality of performances. As a result of this, the conversations between the characters flow so naturally and provide a more grounded element to the admittedly outlandish premise.
I find this film to be extremely important in the current theatrical landscape because, even though it isn’t necessarily an original film, it still strives beyond the commercial expectations that are set for films nowadays. By prioritizing his auteur vision instead of conventional plots and narratives, Lanthimos proves that he is a director that refuses to yield to the commercial expectations that come with greater budgets and scale of projects. It is also incredibly refreshing to see an actor as reputable as Stone continue to take creative risks and endeavors such as this because the payoff is ultimately so great.
In the end, this film provides a unique experience because it ultimately gives the viewer the opportunity to reflect on the pitfalls of humanity and how we contribute to help negate the negative effects. As someone who has been extremely reflective on these concepts due to the current political climate in our world, I find this film to be extremely relevant and worth seeing if you are interested in furthering your opinions and perspectives on these matters. And to be frank, this film is honestly just beautiful to look at on a large screen, so it is absolutely worth seeing in theaters.
Even though Lanthimos just declared a break from directing after a rather hectic first half to the 2020s, I will gladly wait however long it takes in order to see his next project. I love cinema!
