Bugonia

[Bighorn66]

Strange movie concept and I can’t tell if it’ll play to the more sophisticated film crowd.

A story about two young men who kidnap a pharmaceutical CEO, believing she is an alien who wants to destroy EarthP


It’s telling that a film about aliens judging the rottenness of our species comes from a Greek filmmaker using America as a setting. That outsiderism intimates an acknowledgment of all sides while making the case that no force is as destructive as human selfishness.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bugo ... eview-2025

[FrankTheTank]

I trust Emma Stone & Jesse Plemons. Landry Clarke can kick field goals, sing in a heavy metal band, he can do it all!!

[Dicktar2023]

Great performances. There should be Oscar nominations, especially for Plemons and young actor Aidan Delbis (who apparently really is autistic).

But...

Spoiler

I saw the trailer and thought "Ok, but...it's not going to end that way, is it? Because that would be a giant waste of time."

And I sat in the theater today enjoying the movie and thinking "yeah, but it's not going to end that way, is it? Because that would just soften all its satirical punches into goofy slap-fighting."

And I got more and more sucked in and thought "Yorgos Lanthimos is too smart a person and has too much respect for his audience to end it that way...doesn't he?"

He does not.

The last 20 minutes of this movie should be put on a spaceship and launched into the sun. It turns all of the good work done in the rest of the film into a life support system for a plot twist that won't fool anyone who has seen a single episode of The Twilight Zone.

I'm told this is also how the original Korean movie ends. I don't care.

[todd-parker]

Great performances. There should be Oscar nominations, especially for Plemons and young actor Aidan Delbis (who apparently really is autistic).

But...

Spoiler

I saw the trailer and thought "Ok, but...it's not going to end that way, is it? Because that would be a giant waste of time."

And I sat in the theater today enjoying the movie and thinking "yeah, but it's not going to end that way, is it? Because that would just soften all its satirical punches into goofy slap-fighting."

And I got more and more sucked in and thought "Yorgos Lanthimos is too smart a person and has too much respect for his audience to end it that way...doesn't he?"

He does not.

The last 20 minutes of this movie should be put on a spaceship and launched into the sun. It turns all of the good work done in the rest of the film into a life support system for a plot twist that won't fool anyone who has seen a single episode of The Twilight Zone.

I'm told this is also how the original Korean movie ends. I don't care.

Spoiler

My initial reaction to seeing the film: Yorgos L. Shyamalan presents: Knock at the Bugonia. Basically the same movie.

Of the most recent output:

Kinds of Kindness > Bugonia > Poor Things

[Dicktar2023]

Great performances. There should be Oscar nominations, especially for Plemons and young actor Aidan Delbis (who apparently really is autistic).

But...

Spoiler

I saw the trailer and thought "Ok, but...it's not going to end that way, is it? Because that would be a giant waste of time."

And I sat in the theater today enjoying the movie and thinking "yeah, but it's not going to end that way, is it? Because that would just soften all its satirical punches into goofy slap-fighting."

And I got more and more sucked in and thought "Yorgos Lanthimos is too smart a person and has too much respect for his audience to end it that way...doesn't he?"

He does not.

The last 20 minutes of this movie should be put on a spaceship and launched into the sun. It turns all of the good work done in the rest of the film into a life support system for a plot twist that won't fool anyone who has seen a single episode of The Twilight Zone.

I'm told this is also how the original Korean movie ends. I don't care.

Spoiler

My initial reaction to seeing the film: Yorgos L. Shyamalan presents: Knock at the Bugonia. Basically the same movie.

Of the most recent output:

Kinds of Kindness > Bugonia > Poor Things

Spoiler

The "twist" could work plot-wise, but you need to lay the cards on the table. Reveal halfway through that she's an alien, and don't pretend you're getting away with anything.

But then you face the thematic issue: if the crockpot conspiracy theorists are right, what commentary are you making on our political situation? Believe the loonies? The message becomes that humans aren't the real problem, man, the real problem is Them.

What bite is left in your satire?

[Dicktar2023]

The more I think about this movie, the more I hate it.

It has a lot in common with One Battle After Another. They both think they're being provocative and "of the moment," but aside from a few extraneous details, both movies could have been made in 1975.

[Dicktar2023]

I mean, even if the plan from the start was...

Spoiler

to have her really be an alien, how does the filmmaker not look at the performances here and think "we can do better for the third act than a dopey, gimmicky M. Night Shyamalan ending that every sentient being will see coming"?

I hate, hate, hate when a movie gets all the hard stuff right and then bungles the most basic aspects of storytelling. It's like watching 9 innings of a great baseball game, and then the closing pitcher can't throw a strike.

This is a great example of why I found Weapons so refreshing. It didn't try to trick me or treat me like I was a child who had never seen a movie before. It didn't reach for profound themes and political relevance that it had no idea how to articulate. It told a good story. Then it ended well and I went home happy.

That should not be a movie experience that only happens once per year.