REVIEW: BUGONIA

4/5

Kinds Of Alienness

118 Mins. Starring: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias & Alicia Silverstone. Screenplay: Will Tracy. Director: Yorgos Lanthimos. In: Theatres.

The secret life of the bees in your backyard, whose honey makes up one-third of our food, may just tell you the world as we know it is coming to an end. South Korean director Jang Joon-hwan ('Hwayi: A Monster Boy', '1987: When The Day Comes', 'The Running Actress') already warned us to 'Save The Green Planet!' over twenty years ago, and he serves as executive producer here after almost directing this remake of said film. 'Bugonia', however, an ancient Greek term meaning "ox birth", is now helmed by the great Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos ('The Lobster', 'The Killing Of A Sacred Deer', 'Dogtooth'), with a script from Will Tracy ('The Menu', 'Succession', 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver'), the former editor of The Onion. Tracy, himself, executive produced last year's social scathing 'Eddington', with paranoia running in the same vein here. That epic was directed by the great Ari Aster ('Hereditary', 'Midsommar', 'Beau Is Afraid'), who in turn, also serves this as a producer.

Now, if you thought the 'Sinners', 'Fruitvale Station', 'Black Panther' and 'Creed' combo of director Ryan Coogler and superstar actor Michael B. Jordan was the new Scorsese and De Niro/DiCaprio, then what about Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone? Lanthimos' last four pictures have all starred Stone. This, 'Kinds Of Kindness', 'Poor Things' and 'The Favourite'. And they've been coming out at an alarming clip. The last big-three coming out in successive years. And now, 'Bugonia' brings movies by Yorgos back to 'Best Picture' nominations at the Academy Awards after the criminally underrated 'Kindness' faltered. To be fair, it literally feels like it came out a week after 'Poor Things' which gave Emma Stone ('Birdman', 'The Help', 'Battle Of The Sexes') her second Oscar following 'La La Land'. She can count on another one here, as she bald bears all, dedicating even more of herself than Leonardo eating raw bison for 'The Revenant'. Another muse of Yorgos Lanthimos might just be the great Jesse Plemons ('Killers Of The Flower Moon', 'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things', 'Civil War'), after he also took the lead in 'Kinds Of'.

Is Emma Stone an alien? Here, a perplexed Plemons, nursing grief and an online diet of hate (kudos to the review that gave this movie the tag-line 'Alien vs. Redditor'), believes so. Kidnapping this CEO of immense power, believing she's an even more powerful being looking to bring destruction to planet earth. Barely keeping his conspiracy theories together, like his tied-back hair, or 'X-Files' wannabe suit, Jesse masks his fear of a planet fading to black with what he thinks is righteous indignation. His basement jacked kidnapping going to hog-tying lengths of psycho-babble and torture by electrocution and Green Day's most popular album. What sort of dookie is this? As if we have the time to listen to him whine. Stone, on the other hand, rubbing antihistamine cream into her newly shaved dome, shows us who's really in control with another commanding performance to the powerhouse of her rapidly expanding and type-defying repertoire. One "guess who's coming to dinner" scene will really stick a fork in everything you thought was going to happen.

From cellar dwelling to giving thanks for this meal, the brutal and brilliant 'Bugonia' could even play out on the stage of theatre. But there are some other players in this dialogue that Plemons assures us is not 'Death Of A Salesman'. Jesse's tin-hat character, however, should be less concerned with all he's reading and believing on the internet, and more with what he's doing. Manipulating his autistic cousin to the lengths of confusion and chemical castration. Played with sincere soul by Aidan Delbis. Nominated at the Astra Awards as Best Young Performer, there is sensitivity and not a hint of what was going on with Benny Safdie in that Robert Pattinson movie that in that regard wasn't such a 'Good Time'. Plemons thinks he's doing this all for his mother, played by 'Clueless' and 'Batman & Robin' actress Alicia Silverstone (WHAT?!) to sobering effect. Picking up where she left off in Netflix's 'Reptile' (with Benicio del Toro and Justin Timberlake) and Lanthimos' own 'Sacred Deer'. Add stand-up Stavros Halkias' cop character, with a hinted abusive past as a catalyst, and this wild ox births new ideas about class and social media divides and the power of both. Not to mention the greed of human nature and the environment we think is our own. Be more responsible, honey! TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Poor Things', 'Kinds Of Kindness', 'Save The Green Planet!'