Bugonia

One of my favorite directors, with Bugonia, Yorgos Lanthimos has done it again. However, D noticed that there are quite a few beheadings in this latest venture. Not surprising when you notice Mr. Midsommar himself, Ari Aster, produced. Aster probably gave the most input on how to fake blood realistically, the aforementioned headlessness and the customary face smashing with a blunt instrument. Why normalize Ari Aster? That said, Aster’s darkness counterpoints well with Yorgos’ typically deep exploration of human psychology, existential angst, stupidity, pathos — and the absolute tragi-comic essence of it all. That’s a lot to contain in a movie and I’m so glad that Yorgos goes for it. 

Not to put too fine a point on the beheadings but D and I thought we would get a lot of those in 2016’s Ben-Hur, starring Morgan Freeman. It’s a gladiator movie after all. But no, they are all here in Bugonia instead.

Speaking of Bugonia, Teddy (the great Jesse Plemons — who could forget his recent turn in Civil War) has got a lot on his mind. His mother has a terminal disease and is in a coma, his neurodivergent cousin is thinking about starting a family, his co-workers are bending the knee, afraid to make waves. All the while he has cracked the code on identifying the Andromedans who have infiltrated our planet. But Teddy has a plan. He is going to fix all of this and save our species. He simply needs to have a sit down with the alien chief aboard their spacecraft. 

As with anyone who has ever picked up a paintbrush, a pen or a camera — the artist has a reason. Even if the reason is not to decry violence or war but simply to make art for arts sake. Or perhaps just as simply to make a buck. There is a reason. What Yorgos is saying in Bugonia is really worth thinking about. Maybe a re-read of Andy Grove’s seminal business text, “Only the Paranoid Survive” is in order here. 

Bugonia is intense, all the way through. It grabs you and holds you. You want to look away but you know you can’t. It’s partly a suffocating horror film (thanks, Ari!) with an epic score that lends to the gravitas. But it is equally a meditation on our shared humanity; on where we ultimately put our faith.