​Lanthimos and Stone seek more honey in fourth film together

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

As a reflection on our perilous political landscape, “Bugonia,” from the ever curious and boundary-stretching auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, joins several other 2025 releases that have something to say about a deeply divided populace and the fine line between order and chaos. Landing somewhere between “One Battle After Another” and “Eddington” on the “both sides are bad” spectrum, “Bugonia” is smaller in scale than either of those movies, even if its ideas are equally intriguing. One of the producers of “Bugonia” is Ari Aster, who cast frequent Lanthimos collaborator Emma Stone in a thankless and arguably insulting role in his “Eddington.” Stone is on much firmer footing here, adding another wild, even astonishing performance to her filmography.

Along with Stone, who portrays high-powered, take-no-prisoners pharma/chem CEO Michelle Fuller, Jesse Plemons re-teams with his “Kinds of Kindness” pals as Teddy Gatz, an angry and frustrated conspiracy theorist whose mother’s illness and coma he blames on Fuller and her profits-over-people practices. Along with his neurodivergent cousin Don (Aidan Delbis), Teddy kidnaps Michelle. When she regains consciousness in the basement of the rural home shared by her abductors, Michelle — now covered in an antihistamine cream and with her head shaved — is informed by Teddy that he believes she is an extraterrestrial from the Andromeda galaxy who has terrible plans for the humans of Earth.

This set-up, which featured prominently in the film’s trailer, gives two electrifying actors a nifty sandbox to practice their craft and show off their chops. Stone and Plemons are compelling, shifting effortlessly between the worst and the most humane aspects of Fuller and Gatz. A great deal of the action is slow-burn magic (occasionally reminiscent of the otherworldly magnetism of Lanthimos breakthrough “Dogtooth”) in which Teddy, smarter than he initially appears, struggles to keep pace with the steel-nerved Michelle, who somehow manages to be intimidating and nearly in control even though she is the one tied up and held against her will.

Stone and Plemons have the lion’s share of big scenes and dialogue, but Delbis is terrific in a key role. Even though the viewer assumes that Don is willing to go along with Teddy’s plans without challenge, he surprises us more than once with insights not within the grasp of his relative and closest companion. Lanthimos also escalates narrative tension with the introduction of Casey (Stavros Halkias), a local law enforcement officer whose grim personal history with Teddy colors their exchanges during the Fuller disappearance investigation. Halkias, known for his sharp stand-up crowd work and provocative podcast commentary, notches another outstanding turn here, following his hysterical and fearless role in last year’s underseen “Let’s Start a Cult,” which he co-wrote.

The script for “Bugonia” was written by Will Tracy as an adaptation of the South Korean film “Save the Green Planet!” That 2003 movie’s director Jang Joon-hwan was originally attached to the English language remake prior to Lanthimos coming to the helm. Not to be confused with its floral homonym, “Bugonia” refers to the ancient folk practice built on the myth that bees spontaneously generate from the flesh of dead cows. Teddy’s work as a beekeeper is one of a small handful of clues regarding the title’s connection to the thematic subtext known only to Lanthimos in full form. For the rest of us, “Bugonia” is an often wondrous and frequently inexplicable cosmic trip ready to delight anyone willing to tune in to its peculiar wavelength.