Bugonia

I am a huge fan of Yorgos Lanthimos so I have been eagerly anticipating his latest movie, Bugonia, for what seems like forever.  My nephew and I saw it last night at the Broadway (with a huge crowd) as the first in a double feature and we both loved it!  Conspiracy theorist Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) has become convinced that an alien species, known as the Andromedans, has infiltrated the Earth and is actively destroying the environment, especially the honeybees, and forcing the population into subservience.  He coerces his intellectually disabled cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) into helping him with his plan to kidnap Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the CEO of the pharmaceutical company Auxolith who Teddy believes is an Andromedan, so that she can negotiate a meeting with her Emperor during the upcoming lunar eclipse.  They immobilize her (in a hilarious sequence), shave her head and cover her skin with an antihistamine cream to prevent her from sending a distress signal to other Andromedans, and then imprison her in their basement.  When she wakes up, Michelle denies being an alien, demands to be released, and then bargains with her captors.  However, in the course of their negotiations, it is revealed that Teddy works for Auxolith and that his mother Sandy (an unrecognizable Alicia Silverstone) was a test subject for one of Auxolith's experimental drugs and is now in a coma.  Absolute mayhem ensues with a bonkers third act that had me questioning everything that came before!  Both Plemons and Stone give phenomenal performances.  It is implied that Teddy has been the victim of trauma all of his life and has been desperately searching for something or someone to blame for all of his losses.  Plemons imbues him with a sadness that makes him sympathetic despite that fact that what he is doing is wrong.  Stone is cold and arrogant as an unethical CEO who is only concerned with the bottom line but yet you also sympathize with her because of her mistreatment.  The movie is at its best when the two of them interact because they are both absolutely convinced that their version of the truth is correct in an age when it has become increasingly difficult to ascertain the truth (it is uncomfortable, but also necessary, to watch).  There are many other thought-provoking themes to unpack (most notably environmentalism, capitalism, and trauma) but I think the message about misinformation is the most powerful.  This movie is definitely a wild ride (with all of the black comedy you have come to expect from Lanthimos) but I will definitely be thinking about this for a long time to come and I highly recommend it.