Film Review: "Bugonia" (2025)
Impossible to ignore, this zany movie was a largely fun experience.
Yorgos Lanthimos first landed on my radar with The Lobster, a film I enjoyed largely because it broke so many rules, the acting was depressingly spot on, it was ridiculous and strange. I loved it. You can guess that. My rule is simple: keep me guessing. If I donât know what comes next, your film may not be perfect, but it will stand out from all the many movies I watch. Bugonia absolutely follows that rule.
I didnât come to this film for Lanthimos though, or for Emma Stone, his frequent collaborator. Seeing her transform herself from the tiny everyday gal I saw in person into this very loud, dramatic being is really powerful.
But no, I came for Jesse Plemons, an actor I find endlessly compelling on camera and might I add, with hate mail from Kirsten Dunst surely to follow *JOKE, a sexiness in how he carries himself on screen pre-Bugonia. He has an âeverydayâ quality that somehow translates into something more magnetic once heâs in motion. Itâs not about conventional attractiveness like a Chris Hemsworth or old 1950âs Hollywood look. No, itâs about presence. The way he moves, the way he listens, the way he speaks. Heâs got whatever that star power is supposed to have. Austin Powers mojo.
And notably, his voice never slips into that upspeak pattern thatâs become so common. Thereâs a realness to him that feels increasingly rare as men all imitate YouTubers selling skin cream in informercial question marks.
Here, even styled scruffily, this is one of his best performances. His acting is so natural it almost disappears, as you feel less like youâre watching a performance and more like youâve run into him on the street and fallen into conversation.
Aidan Delbis is also a standout, especially in a first major role. Thereâs a quiet confidence there that holds its own in a film that could easily swallow a newcomer whole.
The film itself is⊠absurd. Intentionally so. It leans into that Lanthimos tone of controlled strangeness, where everything feels slightly off-centre. Visually, itâs presented in a square aspect ratio, which I have mixed feelings about. As someone who has made no-budget films in that format to evoke the rugged texture of old film strips, I understand the choice. But here, it feels more like a stylistic constraint than a necessity. I found myself wanting a wider frameâmore room to see the full basement, more space for the actorsâ faces to breathe.
That said, the editing is fabulous. Sharp, deliberate, and full of snappy snap good rhythm. Whatever alchemy brought this film together, the direction is confident and packed with detail. It held my attention completely. I didnât get bored once, which, for a film this oh WEIRD, is no small achievement.
There is one moment I didnât like, ugh, a brief scene involving suicide that feels inserted for shock, perhaps even a punchline. It doesnât land. Suicide isnât funny, itâs never going to be funny, it never was, get real, and it isnât light material. Having known people in my youth who made that choice, and having seen the impact ripple through everyone around them, itâs a note that feels out of place in an otherwise carefully constructed film.
By the end, though, the film offers a kind of sideways redemption, like, you know, a wink rather than a resolution. If youâve seen Emma Stone in TVâs The Curse, youâll recognise the tone. Itâs that particular flavour she gravitates toward: unsettling, self-aware, just a little bit playful in its discomfort all around.
Whatâs perhaps most surprising is that Bugonia found its way into the Academy conversation at all. This isnât their usual language. Itâs too odd, too slippery, too uninterested in neat conclusions. The Academy wants things like a Lincoln biopic. Bugonia serves up experimental hamburgers made from alien moon cheese at Ruthâs Chris Steakhouse.
But thatâs also what makes it worth watching. Itâs weird. Itâs intriguing. It doesnât behave, like you and me are prone to. And sometimes, thatâs exactly the point.
