Visionary director Yorgos Lanthimos, who helmed films such as Poor Things and The Favourite, returns to the big screen in Bugonia. The critically acclaimed director is inspired by the current state of society in his latest collaboration with actors Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. “In the world that we live in now, people live in certain bubbles that have been enhanced by technology,” Lanthimos says. “Having certain ideas about people is reinforced depending on which bubble you live in, creating this big chasm between people. I wanted to challenge the viewer about the things that we’re very certain about, the judgment calls that you make about certain kinds of people. It’s a very interesting reflection of our society and the conflict in our contemporary world.”
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In Bugonia, two young men, Teddy (Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis), kidnap high-profile CEO Michelle (Stone) as paranoia from consuming conspiracy theories convince them that she’s an alien intent on destroying Earth.
Lanthimos is a six-time Academy Award-nominated director, producer, and screenwriter. His most recent film, Poor Things, won the Golden Lion for Best film at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. It was also nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including nominations for Lanthimos in Best Picture and Best Director, and won four Oscars including Best Actress for Emma Stone. His other award-winning works include black comedy “The Favourite,” “The Lobster,” and psychological thriller “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
The story is an adaptation of Save the Green Planet, a 2003 Korean film. Writer Will Tracy saw the potential of the premise, and during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, wrote a reimagining of the film that is contemporary and exciting. “We were locked-down, and I was probably losing my mind a little bit in this little apartment in Brooklyn,” Tracy says. “I wrote it in about three weeks, and I’ve tried not to analyze it too much, but I’m sure something in that atmosphere made its way into the script – that claustrophobic feeling that I don’t think I would have been able to write if not in those circumstances.”
Actor Jesse Plemons had a great time with the story, as it takes audiences on a wild ride of emotions. “The tone of it is so wild and varying — it’s so funny and so tragic, and the way into these very big conversations is so left-field and unexpected,” says Plemons. “It’s a really strange but honest portrait of the times we’re living in, how confusing and absurd it all is.”
Emma Stone, in her fifth movie with Lanthimos, feels that Bugonia’s unique tone could only come from someone as skilled with navigating complex stories as him. “It has that sort of microcosmic quality,” says Stone, who produced the film with Lanthimos in their fifth project together. “There’s a sort of insanity and a commentary in the midst of a really small environment, which I think Yorgos tends to be drawn to. We’re in a basement, and it’s really just people talking to each other a lot of the time, having perspectives that feel maybe incorrect or twisted. But they reveal these different versions of humanity and what can happen in a downward spiral of convincing yourself of something.”
Lanthimos believes that Bugonia would greatly benefit a theater viewing, as the audience would benefit from the shared experience of reacting to the unfolding story. “Most films should be enjoyed like that, in a cinema with other people. It’s a communal experience, but especially this film, the way it’s filmed on VistaVision, a beautiful format, and the sound design that Johnnie Burn has done, along with Jerskin Fendrix’s score,” Lanthimos says. “It’s just a very full and dramatic experience, both in its hilarity and its horror, that can only be experienced fully in a cinema.”
A twisted journey awaits as Bugonia arrives in Philippine theaters on November 5. Check out Universal Pictures PH (FB), UniversalPicturesPH (IG), and UniversalPicsPH (TikTok) for the latest news and updates.
