Written By Alivia Stonier
Bugonia opens with bees, and it ends with bees. A cyclical reminder of their importance. From director Yorgos Lanthimos and writer Will Tracy comes this English adaptation of the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet!
The story opens with Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) beekeeping in the yard as Teddy explains the importance of bees to Don. It becomes clear that Teddy acts as a guide towards Don as he faithfully listens to what his cousin tells him. He is also highly impressionable as a neurodivergent individual high on the autism spectrum.
This guidance begins to take a dark turn as Teddy devises a plan for them to kidnap the CEO of the company he works for, Michelle Fuller of the pharmaceutical conglomerate, played by Emma Stone.
But why do such a thing? Fuller is responsible for the drug that rendered Teddy’s mother, Sandy, comatose after a medical trial of the product went wrong, and despite receiving compensation, it clearly wasn’t enough for the emotional rupture and trauma that this decision caused.
Caught up in conspiracy theories that Teddy found on the internet, he begins believing that the CEO is an alien species member of the “Andromedans” that aim to kill the honeybees, which are responsible for the production of vital food and products that sustain human life.
Bugonia offers a story that immediately becomes uncomfortable and suffocating as we watch Don struggle with his health due to the decisions that Teddy leads him to, including chemically castrating himself. The film combines incredible performances from the main trio with gorgeous cinematography all shot on film. Specifically using the VistaVision format (which runs 35mm film horizontally) and standard 35mm, alongside Kodak film stock, to achieve the color story. As a result, the film becomes an odd project that is equally captivating.
Many of the shots featured in the film can stand on their own as true photographs, and it speaks to the intention that went into the look of the film and the way that the set was designed. A moment that was shot in black and white film as we see Teddy’s mother levitating left me captivated visually, as you truly could take that still and hang it.
Plemons also does a wonderful job of bringing the madness behind his character to life in a way that is truly believable. There are layers to Teddy’s anger; there is a man that is confused and hurt behind all of this behavior. Plemons has a way of capturing this nuance of being both calm and viciously angry in a split second. This juxtaposition builds the emotional intensity and stakes of the film.
Delbis is also part of the beating pulse behind this film and becomes one of the reasons to love the story.There are not many things that Teddy truly loves, but his cousin is one of them, and through this familial dynamic is how we see both the human side and some of the most difficult moments of this film. There is both a deep love and a growing discomfort between the two.
Stone, who drives a wedge in this dynamic, brings an articulate and grounded performance. Courage, through not only her dialogue and the monologues that she was presented but also the way that she is able to bring complex characters to life, as she also did in her recent film Poor Things (2023), shines here as well.
The crew brought on a cast that is not afraid to bring out the ugly in their character, and with that came an emotional payoff. Despite the beauty of the film visually and the gripping performances, the plot offers a twist that undercuts the meaning behind the film and leaves the entire project falling flat on its face in the final act.
It is revealed that Teddy was not a crazy conspiracist after all, and instead the CEO truly is an alien. This is only found out after the death of Teddy when she is taken into an ambulance and, instead of getting the help that she needs, flees back to her office to go back to the mothership of her species.
What could have been a commentary that saw itself through on the problem with the medical industry, especially in America, and the way that there is not enough health literacy taught or enough trust that can be placed in the system—all of that legitimacy and the anger that Teddy felt for even his coworker, who suffered a simple injury at work and instead was coming in and not making a fuss—becomes this outlandish sci-fi message when the true horror is here on Earth.
According to a study done by the AAMC Center for Health Justice, “From 2021 to 2024, there was a gradual decline in trust reported for eight of nine sectors, with local schools as the exception. Pharmacies experienced the sharpest decline in trust (8% decrease), followed by hospitals and social service agencies (5% decrease).”
Many Americans grow weary of the very support systems that they are meant to be able to lean upon, feeling as though their illness is being benefited from financially by these large institutions. This fear is echoed in the fiction of Teddy, as he is unable to see the CEO of a company he works for, who has struggling employees, as human when she is living such a lavish lifestyle, topped off with a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes to get to work.
What could have been an understated horror about what happens when people go unsupported for the care that they need, including mental health support after facing medical trauma at the hands of other people, becomes an otherworldly type of horror. One that makes things feel like a joke when it is anything but.
Despite having such an outlandish ending that would have been much better if rooted in the reality it is holding a mirror to, it’s undeniable that the ending shots, as the human race has died leaving behind only the animals, including beloved pets like people’s cats, have a beautiful quality to them and capture how quickly a mundane life can come to a close.
It is in this way that Bugonia is a film feast for anyone that enjoys cinematography and the work that goes into a story behind the camera. Through its themes, the film surfaces an important conversation, regardless of its sci-fi flavor.
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