Bugonia
review by Bobby Blakey
Director Yorgos Lanthimos always brings a unique vision to his films such as Killing of the Sacred Deer and my personal favorite The Lobster. In 2023 he teamed up with Emma Stone for the fantastic Poor Things and once again in 2024 for Kinds of Kindness. Now they are back together yet again for Bugonia co-starring Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone. Could this latest from Lanthimos hit another interesting mark or will it be to far out of this world?
Bugonia follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap a powerful CEO they believe is an alien out to destroy humanity. What begins as a paranoid act spiral into a battle of delusions and control—one as viscerally unpredictable as it is provocative.
Lanthimos has become one of my favorite directors so if his name is on it I am there. The unique visions and storytelling are something special and with this latest film he keeps the momentum going. This is probably the most normal film I have seen from him so far and not in a bad way. The story seems simple and grounded enough, but there is that hint of something more that keeps you guessing throughout to what is real and what isn’t.
The cast are all fantastic with Emma Stone once again giving aa strong performance and Jesse Plemons further cementing himself as a top-tier actor. Both feed off the other perfectly to create some insane yet engaging dialogue. While these two powerhouses shine and bring brilliant performances it was newcomer Aidan Delbis making his feature debut that pulled me in. This young man brings such a simple yet deep performance to his character. He is
likable, funny and lovable, being the voice of reason of sorts in this chaos.
As the film plays out it gets increasingly more strange as we are taken deeper into paranoia and even more confused about the reality of what we are seeing. The final act is fantastic, bringing it all together in a way some might see and others might know, but works to perfection. This is yet another brilliant film from Lanthimos that might not work for everyone, but for me further cements my love of his work.
In addition to the film this release offers up the making of featurette that takes audiences behind bringing this unique film to life. Grab your copy of Bugonia available now on digital, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.