Emma Stone's Oscar-Worthy Turn In Bugonia

Bugonia's ending, though not unexpected, is still shocking, reveals Deepa Gahlot.

Back in 2003, before everything South Korean was such a craze, Jang Joon-hwan made a black comedy called Save The Green Planet!, which made a case for the environment when global warning alarm bells had not started clanging so loudly.

He collaborates in upgrading his script for Bugonia, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the much admired filmmaker of Greek origin.

Emma Stone, who won an Oscar for Lanthimos' Poor Things (her second after La La Land) and has been nominated for a record-setting seventh time for this film, is Lanthimos' muse. She has acted in four of his films, and trusted that he would do her justice when she reportedly signed on for Bugonia without reading the script.

Because he has Stone on his team, the director turned the male character of the Korean film to female, and made a female character male. That took care of the possible sexual tension between characters in a confined space.

What Bugonia is about

Bugonia is about beekeeper and conspiracy theorist Teddy (Jesse Plemons), who is convinced that the head of a large pharma corporation, Michelle Fuller (Stone), is an alien, and that she has been sent from the planet Andromeda to destroy Earth.

He gets his mentally slow cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) to help him abduct her and take her to his isolated rural home.

He has other grievances too. He believes that chemicals produced by her company, Auxolith, are responsible for decimating his bee hives. Also, years earlier, his mother was part of an experimental drug trial conducted by Auxolith that left her in a vegetative state.

He has researched Andromedan systems, even created an AI-generated illustration of the spaceship that is expected to come to Earth during the lunar eclipse four days later. Teddy is obviously troubled not just by his mother's condition, but possible childhood abuse by his male babysitter, who is now a cop.

Teddy believes that Michelle communicates with the 'mothership' through her hair, so he gets Don to shave her head. They also slather her body with an antihistamine cream to prevent any signaling with the aliens. Tying her up in the basement, Teddy gives Michelle four days to prove that she is an alien and stop the Andromedans from taking over Earth.

Bizarre beliefs

Before abducting her, both men underwent chemical castration, so Teddy reassures her that they are not after money or sex. Michelle talks to Teddy in reasonable tones, as he expounds bizarre beliefs. It looks obvious that he is unhinged though he has his scientific data sorted in his head.

The original played with the idea that the kidnapper is not delusional. The destruction of Earth and elimination of the human race have been popular sci-fi tropes for decades, so much so that plots set in a dystopian future became sci-fi and action movie staples.

Bugonia is set largely in Teddy's house, where he tries to break down Michelle's defences. His mounting hysteria as the lunar eclipse approaches is both funny and sad. Corporate greed and random cruelty have reduced powerless people like Teddy and Don to desperate acts of violence, which is not part of their temperament.

Emma Stone brings an edgy solemnity to Michelle

Bugonia has an absurdist structure, a loony energy and a credible concern about the future of humankind, as the bee population declines. The problem, however, is that the subject is somewhat overused in science fiction, and Lanthimos is unable to add anything new to it. So the film depends heavily on performances by Stone and Plemons.

Putting vanity aside, Stone brings an edgy solemnity to Michelle, with her dilated pupils, bald head and a controlled body language, in contrast to Plemons’ jittery impatience.

The title Bugonia comes from an ancient Greek term meaning 'born of an ox', referring to the belief that bees could be generated from the carcass of a sacrificed ox. In the context of the film, it symbolises the birth of something new after the old has been destroyed.

The ending, though not unexpected, is still shocking.

Bugonia is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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