REVIEW: Emma Stone commands in K-remake 'Bugonia'
Since appearing in The Favourite back in 2018, Emma Stone has become a fixture in filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ increasingly impressive filmography. Darkly comic and wildly absurdist, the pair’s collaborations –which would go on to include Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness– frequently walk the line between populist entertainment and experimental art. Their newest effort, Bugonia, can be described in much the same way; while ostensibly a remake of South Korea’s Save the Green Planet, Lanthimos and Stone put their own, twisted stamp on the material. Where the original was quirky and pragmatic in its own way, the remake is an almost entirely different beast... and that’s a good thing.
Stone plays pharmaceutical billionaire Michelle Fuller, who is kidnapped by Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis), under the belief that she is an alien invader. As the mastermind, Don is clearly unhinged, with at least part of his desperation stemming from his mother being left in a coma while participating in a clinical trial for one of Fuller’s drugs. Over the course of torturing their captive in hopes of a cure, Don decides that Fuller’s high pain threshold identifies her as a member of the alien royal family, and he decides to adjust his approach.
As Don pivots to treat Michelle with (what he believes to be) the respect befitting a royal, the now-bloody and injured CEO begins plotting her escape. What follows is a comedy of errors and close calls that culminates in a genre-bending mindf--k of a denouement that will color any subsequent viewings in a different light.
Lanthimos’ skill at weaving narrative threads means that Bugonia’s every reveal is fully earned, blending social awareness, paranoia with elements of body horror and gore in a patently absurdist drama. Of course, the same could be said for most of Lanthimos’ filmography, which makes his consistent ability to surprise all the more noteworthy, to say nothing of his penchant for (less-than-subtle) commentary on classicism and power dynamics.
This is the sort of film where Murphy’s Law takes precedence over plot contrivances, and Stone and Plemons make for excellent onscreen opponents. While it would be nice to see Lanthimos go a year where Stone’s character isn’t physically and/or mentally abused, the results are so relentlessly engaging; her effectiveness in these roles makes it hard to imagine anyone else in the part(s). Barely recognizable for most of the runtime, Stone’s ability to convey emotion with only her eyes is at its peak here, approaching Tony Leung-levels of mastery. More than any other character, this is Michelle’s story, and Stone commands the screen well.
At the same time, Plemons, who’s made a career of playing unbalanced simpletons, is hilariously dense as Don. While the lengths the man goes to are somewhat extreme, who’s to say how far they’d go to save a loved one? As more of Don’s history is revealed, and the validity of his actions becomes more questionable, Plemons deftly sells us on his character’s complexity.
With regard to the ending, your mileage may vary, as it represents the sort of narrative big swing that only a seasoned filmmaker would have the audacity to attempt. In any case, the musical choice to go with a cover of Where Have All the Flowers Gone? is *chef’s kiss*. While the broad strokes of Save the Green Planet are in place, they’re depicted differently enough to make this remake worth checking out. Interestingly, Save the Green Planet director Jang Joon-hwan was slated to direct, and it’s fascinating to imagine how that adaptation would have gone.
In any case, as we move away from blockbuster season and get closer to the New Year, award season is in full swing. As the number of films vying for gold will only increase in the remaining months, one wouldn’t be surprised to see Lanthimos’ latest among the frontrunners.
Disturbingly humorous, humorously disturbing, and crafted to reward repeat viewings, Bugonia is a contender.