Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone did it again! After their amazing craft of Poor Things (please watch it if you haven’t), they’ve come back with Bugonia, another female-led psychologically disturbing film. When you first search up the movie and see it’s about a female CEO getting kidnapped by two conspiracy theorists—who just so happen to think she’s an alien—you might get weirded out and even avoid the movie. I wouldn’t blame you. However, I have watched this 2-hour film with my mother (not a great choice), and I have some things to say about it.
The first hour of the movie starts out as build-up, with most scenes coming off slow and not all that exciting. The two conspiracy theorists, Teddy and Don, plan out their ultimate kidnapping of a CEO of a pharmaceutical company, Michelle Fuller. Fuller stands out to the audience as an excellent negotiator and leader, who later reveals to be the boss of Teddy. We learn that previously, she promises treatment for Teddy’s mother, who is terribly ill—but sends her into a coma instead. Teddy then researches Michelle for years to get his revenge, where he comes to the conclusion that she is an extraterrestrial being who is sent to Earth to destroy humanity. His cousin, Don, is kind of dragged into this situation, as he is easy to control and manipulate because of his brain disability. If you asked me about Don, I truly believe he represents the innocence of kids in the world between the lower and higher powers. Like Don, some kids are indoctrinated by ridiculous beliefs (that sometimes happen to not be so ridiculous) and have to pay for the consequences after. Teddy and Don pair up to torture Michelle in inhumane ways, such as electrifying her until she bleeds. During this scene, I was in my seat—my body turned the opposite direction to the screen—and the second the voltage hit full power, I audibly gasped. My mother, on the other hand, kept complaining about why I dragged her into this movie while closing her eyes.
While that scene is a hard watch, it demonstrates Teddy’s lack of emotion over who he believes to be non-human. The look in his eyes reflects the feeling of oblivion except apathy (credits to the actor, Jesse Plemons!), while his cousin is forced to watch and sympathize with her pain as he endures the disturbing-ness of the whole situation.
Mind you, the whole movie the audience is set to back up the CEO, as she is the one who gets devastatingly hurt and who reveals to be the true antagonist of the movie in the end. Nevertheless, the second the final hour begins, all hell breaks loose. While Michelle tries to convince Don to let her free of the chains, Teddy talks to a police officer who happened to babysit him when he was younger. He kills the police officer with a shovel. However, this act is caused by Don shooting himself in the basement, with the gunshot sound causing Teddy to panic and murder the man. How family-friendly, am I right?
The scene where Michelle is trying to negotiate with Don to let her free reminded me of unreturned promises and unfaithful words—which cause children to dream their brightest—only to end up in the lowest of the low (which in this case is death). While some may argue that Don was feeling immense guilt over the kidnapping of Michelle, thus explaining the reason why he shot himself, I believe it represented something deeper. Yes, he was being eaten alive by his guilt, but some of his last words included “Will you take me far away from here?” with Michelle promising him his wishes. Don knew they were ingenuine; his previous suicidal ideals, which we can assume by the buildup to his death, were set off like a time bomb after Michelle’s desperate attempt to be freed. He was well aware that the woman was not an alien, and his last moments of imitated faith were enough for him to pull the trigger—tragic, really. The fulfillment of the last feeling of hope was comforting enough for him to finally make his finger not tremble as he pushed.
As much as I would like to continue analyzing the death scene of Don, I now find it necessary to talk about the general theme and meaning of the movie. Bugonia, for me, pointed out how sometimes paranoia—and violence—can cause the very things we are trying to avoid. As much as Teddy was right about Michelle being an alien, she was honestly there to help humanity, not to hurt them. Yet, constant reminders of his trauma caused by his mother’s coma made it so that he felt nothing except skepticism and hatred toward the CEO. While he was trying to save the human race from this alien species, he actually caused their doom instead. After the whole incident of the kidnapping, Michelle realized that humans maybe aren’t worth all the trouble and effort to save, thus killing all of them. His own actions to prevent such a thing were the spark to the flame.
The movie, from my perspective, was an excellent descriptor of how obsessive and destructive behavior—created to prevent an event from occurring and caused by the strong desire for revenge—can guide you right to it without your awareness.
Moreover, most people tend to think that this movie shows how conspiracy theorists are valid about their beliefs, when in reality it critiques the creation of them. Aside from Teddy being right about Michelle being an alien, he was wrong about her intention. The main antagonist of this movie isn’t the aliens, nor the people—it’s the trauma that causes connection and paranoid beliefs. The significant effect of trauma in our lives leads to mistrust and scapegoat ideals towards other individuals, therefore causing some to seek patterns or any reason that might ease their suffering. This very idea is supported by the electrocution scene I mentioned earlier, where Teddy finds it crucial to turn inhumane by suppressing his emotions to “defeat the aliens.” This not only explains his very violent behavior toward Michelle but also demonstrates how he himself has transformed into a heartless monster to achieve his goal. Even though Michelle repeatedly confides in an agreement and tries to let him hear her side, his trauma blocks the concept of kindness from any sort of authority getting into his brain. This movie captures how much trauma really affects people, leading them to go mad and jump to conclusions, eventually causing arrogance and stubbornness.
Overall, Bugonia is one of those movies where you really just have to sit and think—think beyond this world and move on to the next, where Michelle Fuller just happens to be. Personally, this film was a 9/10 watch, and it is recommended to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers and drama with a side of dark comedy.