Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia (2025), a remake of the South Korean film Save the Green Planet! (2003), is beautifully made and unbearably tragic. While some deem movies as an escape from reality, I like to think of them as tools to better understand the world around us, and Bugonia tries to do just that. Lanthimos creates a world that mirrors our own, making us consider different views and how people respond to their conditions.
The word bugonia, derived from Greek and Latin, means ‘oxen-born’ — an ancient idea of death and renewal. As a title, it aptly steers the film’s entire direction.
Lanthimos’ film is reminiscent of a Twilight Zone (1959-1964) episode, and I also couldn’t help but think of M. Night Shyamalan‘s The Happening (2008) while watching it. Yet Will Tracy’s script takes something that has been done before and gives it a unique voice.
Bugonia isn’t limited to a simple clash between two people; it delves into pressing issues such as class disparities, environmental concerns, and the way upbringing shapes one’s worldview. On the surface, Bugonia is a weird dark comedy, but it is so much more than that.
The plot provides the main characters — cousins Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis) — with a clear, narrow focus while simultaneously fleshing them out as the film progresses. The central conflict between Teddy and Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) is handled with extreme care, avoiding a mere black-and-white portrayal. Instead, it leaves space for ambiguity, allowing you to make your own distinctions about these characters. There are dimensions to the storyline that linger long after the screen fades to black, and leave you deep in thought. At its core, Bugonia challenges us to consider what it truly means to care about the world and the people in it.
Amidst the current political climate, Bugonia pokes fun while lifting the curtain on the day-to-day life of someone who has suffered at the hands of a system that favours the most powerful. I’m not advocating for any of the characters’ actions, but Lanthimos tries to make us aware of different parts of human morality and behaviours.
The plot is solidly structured, but what really elevates it is the acting. Plemons and Stone are brilliant and play their roles with such conviction that you almost forget they’re actors. The conversations their characters shared had me on edge. While most of the movie is dialogue-heavy, bursts of action and crescendos of score make you jump, and the unnerving tension between Teddy and Michelle is almost worse than any of the silent gaps.
Side characters play a bigger part in the conflict than they seem: uncovering Teddy’s past and revealing the motivation behind his actions.
While some might argue that Bugonia has been done before, that its peculiarity could take away from its meaning, and that no one wants to watch something that mirrors our reality, I find its poignancy to be the point. In its entertaining display, Bugonia provides a warning that we have heard hundreds of times: we should care about our planet, thereby we should care about each other.
Thankfully, Lanthimos takes a heavy topic and makes it bearable through the cinematography and dashes of humour, where it feels almost inappropriate to laugh.
If philosophical pondering isn’t your thing, and dark humour doesn’t do it for you either, I hope you might still appreciate the use of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!”
Bugonia is bold and you should go into it with an open mind and limited expectations.
