By Jackson TOYON

Good satire is an art – and when people are living in tough times it’s a welcome salve. It’s not that things have ever been particularly easy but as people struggle they react to those struggles differently. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, famous for his affinity for absurdist dark comedy, reflects upon these anxieties with his latest film “Bugonia.” It’s a remake of a Korean satirical sci-fi film, “Save the Green Planet!” that warns about the fragile world and the online echo chambers that have become so dangerous – especially in the last decade or so. Lanthimos’ rendition of the story, following two ordinary men driven to taking matters into their own hands, feels unnervingly current despite the source material being a movie from 2003.

Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons), a recluse and a hobbyist beekeeper, is worried about the future and the state of the world he finds himself and his autistic cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) living in. They reminisce about how the world used to be and lament how it feels like that freedom no longer exists. It doesn’t help that Teddy’s mother is lying in a coma from which she has yet to awaken. But Teddy believes he has it all figured out and he has a plan to save the world from these unfortunate times. 

It isn’t just bad luck – no, there’s a detestable higher power at work here. Through personal bias and obsessive “research” from the fringe corners of society, Teddy has concluded that an alien race, the Andromedans, have taken root on Earth to exploit its people and eventually wipe out the population entirely. More specifically, he’s identified a target especially close to the worries of his heart – Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the high-powered CEO of pharmaceutical corporation Auxolith. Seeing only further confirmation in Auxolith’s manufacture of insecticides that are harmful to honeybees, Teddy ropes his reluctant but loyal cousin into a scheme to kidnap Michelle and use her as a bargaining chip to get rid of the Andromedans for good.
With a story this absurd and human, the performances are everything – and the leads are at the top of their game. Seemingly always sweaty and dirty as Teddy, Plemons brings raw, career-best desperation to the character, clinging tenaciously to his beliefs as though they are the only thing he has left to live for. Stone makes up the other half of the conflict with her direct, cold presence, perfectly embodying the corporate “disruptor” CEO persona that’s so assured of its own abilities and so disconnected from normal life. Buoying the story in reality is Aidan Delbis, whose timid questions and imploring presence supplies much-needed humanity to the film, acting as the audience’s window past the charade of Teddy and Michelle’s conflict. The audience may recognize Aidan’s name – he is one of our own, an area native who shares my alma mater of Crescenta Valley High School, the knowledge of which made seeing him on screen a uniquely special experience.

The film also excels at its portrayal of conspiracy theories and the followers who fall into them – understanding both the damage conspiracy theories can do as well as the more compassionate angle of how people often use them as a coping mechanism for personal tragedy. Past suffering is the underpinning of Teddy’s beliefs, which makes him quite the tragic character – as self-righteous and quick to violence as he can be with his erratic swings, one can’t help but understand how he came to be this way and feel for him throughout the story. It shows the ugliness of the actions he takes because of his beliefs while empathizing with the trauma that forged those same beliefs.

“Bugonia” is confident in its strangeness, tight and compelling with its narrative, propelled by an appealingly exaggerated and off-kilter score (by Jerskin Fendrix), and well-shot to boot. It flips the average kidnapping thriller on its head by having the captors become the vulnerable party rather than the other way around. 

Lanthimos has created a captivating adaptation that I hope to see among Academy nominees early next year and I highly recommend checking this one out before it leaves theaters.

Rated R.