With ‘Bugonia,’ Yorgos Lanthimos revisits contemporary America through the lens of conspiracy theories
Emma Stone (Michelle Fuller), Don (Aidan Delbis), and Teddy (Jesse Plemons) in ‘Bugonia,’ directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.
LE MONDE’S VERDICT – MUST SEE
With Bugonia, Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos once again proved his mettle, though he indulged less than usual in self-promotion of his virtuosity. This time, he ventured into new territory. Although he has been directing since the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was with The Lobster (starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz) in 2015 that he became an international figure.
From that point on, even if his talent remained undeniable, he stuck to a comfortable, marketable and photogenic cynicism – comparable to that of his Swedish contemporary Ruben Östlund (The Square, Triangle of Sadness) – delivering fables that were by turns clinical and mocking about the misery of humankind and cultural codes. He produced a kind of light social gore that sold well and fit neatly under the influence of Stanley Kubrick or, in a less intimidating way, Lars von Trier (the cosmic chapter structure of Bugonia calls to mind Melancholia, directed by the Danish filmmaker in 2011). To put it another way, until now, Lanthimos had been a model student of stylish irreverence – a tendency that reached its peak with the film Poor Things (2023).
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