Bugonia (2025)
When society becomes alien to mankind.
Presentation:
It seems as though all Lanthimos films have been leading to this. Each film explores the absurdity of something in society. In Bugonia, it explores the absurdity of mankind and civilization. Lanthimos’ visual style looks to be settling down with this film using characteristic ultra wides and off-beat fluorescent overhead lighting. Jesse Plemmons is fantastic here and perfectly complements Lanthimos’ bizarro direction. As this film is a remake, it is actually less experimental than some of his other films with more of an emphasis on story and social commentary. I mean it’s 2025, what film doesn’t have social commentary? What’s great about watching his films is you really can’t predict what will happen because everything is a constant curveball. The misdirection here is well done keeping you on your toes until the credits.
Analysis:
The film is about the absurdity of society though targeted mostly at humanity and their self-destructive capabilities. Lanthimos reveals more about his viewpoint here even more than Poor Things. We first see the absurdity of woke culture through satirizing diversity training and corporate culture. There is an important thematic element with the bees in referencing colony collapse disorder, which is a metaphor for the decay of our own society. Workers are used and discarded until one day they become dysfunctional. Just like Teddy, he is what happens when this system remains unchecked. What I really enjoyed about Lanthimos’ take on the doom of humanity is his reference of a suicidal gene. Ultimately he views society as past saving, but it’s interesting to note that he recognizes that the decay of humanity starts with people rather than something systemic.
Conclusion:
A culmination of how Lanthimos views the world, I think this is encapsulates his purpose as a filmmaker. We live in a very strange world now and it was about time the absurdist director finally explored how off-kilter society has become in the last decade. I really enjoyed everything about this film from the visuals to the story to the social commentary. I just hope he doesn’t take a break too long because with films like this, it gives me hope for the future of cinema.
Recommendations
When society becomes alien to mankind.