‘Bugonia’ review: Emma Stone in la-la land for elite oddball satire

After three successful, surreal collaborations, Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos reunite for Bugonia. This biting satire would be an unusual premise for most directors but seems restrained compared to the Poor Things filmmaker’s previous work.

• READ MORE: ‘Kinds Of Kindness’ review: darkly comic drama with a cruel streak

Jesse Plemons stars as Teddy, a beekeeper who has doomscrolled his way into believing aliens are responsible for the planet’s decline. Convinced that pharmaceutical CEO Michelle Fuller (Stone) is one of their operatives, he and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) kidnap her and hold her captive in their basement. Unable to oblige their request to contact the alien mothership, Michelle fights for her life and discovers the trauma underneath the delusion.

Bugonia twitches with paranoia, as you wonder just who is telling the truth in all the bedlam. As Stone gets her head shaved and is covered in “signal blocking” antihistamine cream, it’s easy to see Teddy and Don as the lunatic villains of the piece. Gradually, however, the script slowly pulls back the curtain on the kind of world that might warp their minds. Scarily, it’s one that looks a lot like ours, with detached corporate tyrants like Michelle making their fortune by destroying lives.

That’s not to say it’s all doom and gloom, as Lanthimos prefers to watch the madness rather than judge it. As ever, there’s a healthy dose of slapstick comedy with some of the biggest laughs coming from the bungled abduction, where Teddy and Don struggle against Michelle while wearing ridiculous paper masks of Jennifer Aniston (‘we were on a break-in’). Down in the basement itself, Teddy’s impotent rages echo Olivia Colman in The Favourite, unnerving and ridiculous at the same time.

Underneath the lunacy is a message that’s more defined than Lanthimos’ other movies. With every person on the planet having access to a world of misinformation, the initially wild premise seems frighteningly plausible. It’ll make you think twice before tumbling down any conspiracy rabbit holes in the future.

Stone fits into the bizarre world with ease; slowly eroding your sympathy with corporate speak and snobbery. She’s barking orders at minions one moment and happily singing along to Chappell Roan in her car the next. It’s the kind of suspicious character that brings this story to life and keeps you guessing until the film’s bonkers end.

Opposite her is the scarily compelling Plemons, who has the monotone conviction of a fanatic while also betraying moments of hilarious incompetence. Like Stone, he’s worked with Lanthimos before in last year’s Kinds Of Kindness and finds exactly the right amount of absurdity for the role.

While perhaps not as glorious as Lanthimos’ best, Bugonia’s shock and awe prompts a discussion about internet culture that hits worryingly close to home. It’s another win for his ongoing partnership with Stone, who may be abducting another Oscar in a few months’ time.