Have you been missing good movies about space? Here is a review of the super-talented work of the iconic Greek director, who is already being predicted to win an Oscar for this film!
It is worth noting that the main character, a well-known actress, shaved her head for him, which suggests that this film is definitely worth watching.
The film was released in Ukraine on October 30. It is available for viewing in many cinemas across Ukraine. This is the fourth collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Oscar-winning Emma Stone.
In his new film, Bugonia, the director creates not just a black comedy or science fiction – it envelops the viewer in a complex blend of conspiracy theories, corporate culture, environmental anxiety, and cosmic-scale concerns. The film offers a daring plot in which the line between reality and the characters’ fantasies is constantly blurred.
And although aliens as such do not dominate it – you will not see other worlds or amazing starships – each frame truly has cosmic proportions: viewers are presented not only with a plot, but also with humanity as a species that can become either a victim or an observer of its own history.
PLOT (CAUTION! WE WILL TRY TO AVOID SPOILERS)
The film is a remake of the cult South Korean film Save the Green Planet! (2003). Did the director manage to surpass the original?
At the center of Bugonia is Emma Stone’s character, who runs a large pharmaceutical corporation. She is kidnapped by a destitute beekeeper and conspiracy theorist named Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his mentally challenged cousin Don (Aidan Delbis). Both are convinced that she is an alien who came from Andromeda and wants to destroy Earth.
But behind the formal events lies something else – a thematic layer without which Bugonia would not work.
SPACE CONTEXT
There isn’t as much space in the film as one would like. You will not find anything here that claims to be scientific, which could then be criticized in YouTube reviews, nor will you be able to enjoy cosmic landscapes or fantastic star missions. But the silent presence of space runs through the entire film like a thread. It constantly hangs over the characters, and by the end of the film, you begin to feel it almost physically.
However, the film definitely makes us think about the context of our existence and ask ourselves: could there be aliens among us?
It also features a cluster of the most common conspiracy theories. Are we part of a grand experiment? Perhaps the zoo theory is not such a theory after all? Yes, the characters may seem like crazy conspiracy theorists, but while watching the film, you can’t shake the feeling that there is some truth to what they say.
Ultimately, the main idea of this film is not so much whether the main character is an alien, but rather the clash between different earthly worlds and worldviews. The director himself notes this.
THE WORLD OF METAPHORS BY LANTHIMOS
Humanity as an experiment
If we could observe humanity from space, at first glance, it would appear to be a community that coexists, takes risks, and struggles. In Bugonia, it is the same, only in an anti-scenario: corporations, bees, conspiracy theorists, kidnappings – all of this is like an “experiment outside the laboratory.”
When characters talk about “aliens,” it is not just about science fiction – it is about how we feel like strangers in our own world.
Teddy’s house and basement
Teddy’s house is an important element in the film, serving as a metaphor for the protagonist’s inner world. It unfolds like a whole world and can be broken down into separate metaphors. The basement of this house personifies not only the submissiveness of the characters themselves, but also that of the audience. The film severely limits the space of the arena of events, giving us an artificial sense of claustrophobia and intensifying our perception of the characters.
Bees, ecology, destruction
The theme of bees in the film is not just a beautiful detail. Bees are an indicator of the ecosystem, a symbol of humanity, which often fails to notice the signs. And “others” (aliens) can be a metaphor for ourselves – or for those forces that we consider alien.
Control, observation, looking through an intergalactic prism
The film explores the issues of power and corporations with a touch of light irony. At first, it seems that this theme is only superficial, but the plot ironically reveals its depth. All moments of control and possible plans for us from space ironically reflect our earthly reality.
PAINFULLY FAMILIAR
For Ukrainian viewers, the film can serve as a mirror: it is not just something fantastical about some foreigners who are preoccupied with contrived problems, believe in conspiracy theories, and engage in nonsense out of boredom – it is a true reflection of our reality. And when you realize this, you get that wow effect.
Ukrainian viewers will become acquainted with their own inner emotions, which are conveyed very vividly in the film: fear, a sense of impending danger, and the shadow of hopelessness that sometimes hangs over each of us.
STYLE, DIRECTING, ACTORS
Lanthimos’s recognizable style is evident from the very first frame. We would describe it in three words: harsh, cruel, ironic. He does not spare his characters, but gives them space.
Well-thought-out visual accents help to see the characters’ personalities and social status very clearly. The filmmakers admit that every detail in the characters’ images is intentional. Just look at Emma’s shaved head!
Cinematographer Robbie Ryan works with 35 mm VistaVision, which gives the image grandeur and claustrophobia at the same time. Music by composer Jerskin Fendrix, performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra, is also an important element that creates “cosmic noise” in interpersonal conflicts.
SO WHO IS BUGONIA?
Lanthimos chose this title for a reason. “Bougonia” has deep Greek roots – a touching detail that shows how tenderly the director clings to the cultural soil of his homeland.
Vougonia is an ancient Greek mythical ritual. It originates from the legend of Aristaeus, the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, who, having lost his swarm of bees, performed a ritual to “give birth” to new bees from the body of a sacrificial bull. The ancient Greeks believed that if a young bull was sacrificed and its body left in an isolated room, bees would eventually be “born” from it. Hence the name: βοῦς – bull and γόνος – birth.
Image Credit & Copyright: Unknown. Public Domain / Wikipedia
For ancient cultures, it was a symbol of transformation, renewal, and cyclicality – when the death of one creature supposedly gave rise to a new form of life.
The director uses the title as a conceptual key to the film: it is a story about new myths born out of old fears, about how we strive to find explanations for chaos even when logic fails, about transformations born out of breakdowns, paranoia, and violence.
The myth of the bull and the bees becomes not a folkloric motif, but a metaphor for modernity – a society that creates its own “bugonias” when trying to explain the incomprehensible and survive another cycle of change.
CRITICISM
Some critics believe that the plot has a “long run-up” and the climax comes late. The film does not have direct space action – there are metaphors, but if you are expecting a space show, you may be disappointed. For viewers who want to watch the film for entertainment, it may be too metaphorical and disturbing.
However, despite all this, the film received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, and the box office figures speak for themselves.
IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Juicy shots, a brilliant team, and incredible depth of philosophical questions – this ironic film is definitely worth your attention if you want to look at the world with your eyes wide open.
The film keeps you in suspense until the very end. You do not understand the characters’ motives, even though they seem to be revealed quite clearly. At some point, you run out of possible logical explanations in your head, and you cannot predict what the terrible truth will be. However, the ending leaves even the most demanding viewer disarmed, and its irony is striking.
We dream of the stars, but we do not yet know how to behave on our own planet. We fear strangers, not realizing that the “stranger” may be within us.
What is our role in the grand scheme of the universe? Are we observers, experiments, or simply victims of conspiracy theories? Can we be a civilization that not only seeks contact with extraterrestrials, but above all, contact with itself?
Although Bugonia is not about interstellar flights, if you view space not as beautiful pictures on the Internet, but as a mirror, this film is definitely for you.
