“Bugonia”: an uncomfortably contemporary conspiracy

Save the Green Planet It’s a movie I probably never would have discovered if it weren’t for this one. remake. It is unfortunate that such a strange and creative work has gone relatively unnoticed and overshadowed, especially since it was released in an extraordinary year for South Korean cinema: Bong Joon-ho presented Memories of MurderPark Chan-wook OldboyLee Chang-dong Oasis y Kim Ki-duk Spring, summer, autumn, winter… and spring againamong others. Thanks to Lanthimos, the film has been rescued from oblivion and resized for new audiences. Its adaptation, although it introduces significant changes, especially in the outcome, does not distort the original spirit, but rather proposes an alternative reading that is just as suggestive. The absurd and over-the-top tone of the Korean film is transformed, in the hands of Lanthimos, into a calculated coldness that dialogues with the director’s aesthetic interests.

The plot centers on two young people obsessed with conspiracy theories who kidnap the powerful director of a pharmaceutical company, convinced that she is actually an alien with the purpose of destroying the Earth.

The film is as delirious as it is uncomfortably contemporary. Explore the proliferation of conspiracy theories in a digital ecosystem marked by misinformation, post-truth and the multiplication of dubious sources, from blogs to YouTube videos or anonymous forums. But Lanthimos does not limit himself to ridiculing these paranoias: he uses them to expose the dehumanizing logic of corporatism, insinuating that the behavior of economic power is so relentless that it would seem, metaphorically, “alien.” The businesswoman played by Emma Stone embodies this abstraction of Economic Power: cold, hermetic, expressing herself through a corporate language stripped of humanity; Their products, from drugs to chemicals that kill even bees, illustrate a system that sacrifices life in the name of profit. The kidnapping, thus, becomes a desperate metaphor: an attempt to stop a predatory capitalism that threatens ecological balance and human health. Lanthimos observes all this from a biting, ironic and deeply satirical perspective, without falling into condescension or easy mockery.

Despite its accessible nature, perhaps one of the most “friendly” works of the Greek along with The favoritethe film does not betray Lanthimos’ core interests. Although his days of radical experimentation with the “Greek New Wave” (Canine, Alps) have been left behind, his cinema continues to explore the structures of control, the absurd logic that governs existence and emotional coldness as a language.

Bugonia It is violent, uncomfortable and cruel, but also funny. His black comedy operates as a mechanism of emotional torture: corrosive, lucid, a distorting mirror that exposes human misery with brutal clarity. In Lanthimos’ universe, no one escapes moral degradation: everyone is a villain, everyone participates in the ethical sewer that sustains the world. The director films with a precise cynicism, with an almost clinical hatred towards the human condition, leaving the viewer in a state of constant ambiguity: there are no victims or innocents. Just misanthropy in its purest form.

The paranoia that drives the story is supported by two magnificent performances: Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. Both make up a toxic and fascinating duality, a perpetual game of victim and executioner that also operates as a satire of power dynamics. Their chemistry and the demanding nature of their performances have been recognized with Golden Globe nominations, confirming the acting strength of the duo.

If you enjoy Lanthimos’ films, Bugonia It will be an irresistible experience. If not, perhaps it is better to stay out of it and leave it in the hands of those who celebrate the strangeness and perversity of the director. For those who do not yet know him, this is perhaps the ideal work to enter his universe. A remake which, in my opinion, surpasses the original version and which has already conquered some of the critics with its nomination for Best Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes. Without a doubt, a piece of black comedy that does not abandon the twisted and singular look of the Greek filmmaker.