I'm sitting here listening to Dio and trying to put my thoughts about this weird, compelling, deeply uncomfortable movie into a spoiler free package, and it's not easy!
Like the best movies, it's better to go into it without knowing much. I knew the basic premise (which I will refrain from explaining), two of the stars (Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons), and, of course, the director, Yorgos Lanthimos.
Now, am I a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos? Yes, I am. I got on board after I saw the film Dogtooth, which was a trip and kinda blew my mind. It was my exact kind of mix of disturbing weirdness and suburban nightmare material.
Then it was Killing of a Sacred Deer, which was very much in the same fucked up and awesome lane as Dogtooth. I didn't see The Lobster because I was lost just reading about it, but I do plan to see it. The Favourite was incredible and really, in my mind, was his step into the big leagues with the best doing it now. At least doing these kinds of personal, bizarre, and challenging movies.
I thought Poor Things was his best movie, and that was the one that put Yorgos on my list of directors that I'll watch anything they do. There aren't a lot of names on that list, but he's on there.
So Bugonia. It's not a perfect movie, but it's a damned good one. The performances are top-notch, especially for a Yorgos movie, where the acting tends to be structured around his specific dialogue style. Not a dig, just an observation. Hey wait a sec. Okay, so his dialogue is very stylized in some of his movies, and sometimes the actors have to act around it a bit. I'm thinking of The Killing of a Sacred Deer, especially. That's all I'm saying.
Anyway, back to Bugonia. This is definitely Yorgos driving the bus, and we're all just along for the ride. We know there's going to be really uncomfortable, disturbing shit at various points, and there certainly is that. Some moments left me completely off balance with my hand over my mouth, stunned. It's a wild movie with a lot of interesting ideas that I'm not sure anyone really needed to come up with, but here we are.
I also feel like this movie will reward repeat viewings, so I'm looking forward to watching it again.
I'm still doing my $50 commissions, so if that's something you'd like —especially for the upcoming holidays — now's a good time to get on it!
Speaking of Yorgos and Emma Stone, here is my drawing of her in Poor Things.