BUGONIA: Yorgos Lanthimos Delivers a Stinging Masterpiece

Everything begins with something extraordinary. A flower and a honeybee gathering pollen and pollinating without causing harm - yet a third of our food supply depends on them. But the bees are dying, like in a pandemic. The worker bees maintain order for their queen, and above this system lies a dangerous truth: the queen is both source and threat. Our bodies and minds seem hardwired to seek her out, to unburden our psyche.

From this observation, Yorgos Lanthimos has created his latest masterpiece: "BUGONIA", a bold reimagining of the Korean cult classic "Save the Green Planet!". From the very first frame, the film announces itself as Lanthimos’ most daring and accessible work, only to erupt in the second half into the unmistakable, unsettling madness for which the director is famous. It is a film of razor-sharp satire, dark humor, and merciless insight, effortlessly oscillating between heartbreak and grotesque comedy.

The story follows two cousins. Teddy, brilliantly portrayed by Jesse Plemons, is the restless, driving force, while Don, played by newcomer Aidan Delbis, is the reserved follower hoping to be saved. They see themselves as the ”Headquarters of Humans" the last line of defense against an alien invasion. Their audacious plan: to abduct Michelle, the powerful CEO of a pharmaceutical company, played by Emma Stone, whom they are convinced is an alien queen. She is to endure four nights as a captive until the arrival of the mothership and during that time, the cousins hope to become heroes.

Lanthimos stages this claustrophobic descent with surgical precision. Violence is presented in stark contrast and paired with a daring soundtrack, including Chappel Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” and Green Day’s “American Idiot,” which almost distorts the acts of cruelty into pop-cultural spectacle. Out of this emerges a bitterly sharp meditation on delusion, obsession, and the human urge to dominate others in pursuit of freedom.

When all seems lost, the drive for renewal takes over. Formally, the film recalls Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria, a reimagining of the original that simultaneously asserts a radically independent vision. Like in "Poor Things", brief, almost ghostly black-and-white flashbacks add depth to the characters. Lanthimos and Stone have developed one of cinema’s most compelling director-actor partnerships over the years, and here they are at the height of their creative powers.

Stone delivers the most physically and emotionally demanding performance of her career: magnetic, dangerous, repulsive, and utterly captivating. Plemons is a force of nature, unpredictable, restless, and electrifying in every scene. It is precisely the combination of manic intensity and vulnerable depth that makes his performance one of the best of his career.

Technically, the film is flawless. Lanthimos’ cold, precise visual style meets breathtaking sound design, threaded with Jerskin Fendrix’s score, sometimes piercing, sometimes buzzing, always echoing the omnipresent hum of the bees. The music screams, the images ache, and political language becomes a sharp blade.

The result is one of Lanthimos’ most accessible and simultaneously most merciless works. A film that makes you laugh and barely endure it at the same time, repeatedly tipping into absurdity and then suddenly becoming profoundly serious.

Like a swarm of bees that continues to hum despite all danger, it leaves an unforgettable impression. BUGONIA confirms Lanthimos as a master of modern cinema: fearless, inventive, deeply entertaining, and uncompromising in its exploration of cruelty, humor, despair, and wit. A film that must be seen on the big screen.

Long after the credits fade, the bees’ murmur still reverberates: gentle yet unyielding, etched into memory, as the hive dissolves, slow and golden, like spilled honey.