Bugonia

Such an underwhelming expirience, I expected soooo much more from Yorgos. I don't consider myself a fan of his as some people are, but I definetely appreciate him and his boldness in films such as Lobster and Killing of sacred dear. Poor things was also a bit lukewarm, but Bugonia stands out as a forgettable movie with no true meaning or substance of any kind. There are a few moments where a glimpse of light was present and I hoped for a complete switch of the theme , but it just didn't happen in the end.

Until a certain point during the movie I kept thinking this is a 3/5. But then all the Lanthimos scenes happened and I had to laugh a lot. Almost felt uncomfortable since I was in the movie theater alone with a bunch of strangers. Could have almost lifted it to a 4/5.

The more I think about this movie the angrier I get at it. I'm having issues finding anything of substance in this two-hour slog. Aside from a couple of scenes between Don and Teddy, which I found incredibly well acted and emotional, there really isn't much to take away. It has this core mystery that's supposed to keep you guessing but it ultimately leads to nothing except ||cheap shock value|| which makes less and less sense the more you think about the plot before ||the reveal that Emma Stone's character IS actually an alien||. I can excuse a film having a surface level "point" if the plot and/or characters are engaging enough, see #[movie:593643:The Menu (2022)], but this has none of that. It doesn't earn it's ending as it has absolutely nothing to say, and it delivers it in a meandering, pretentious way. PLEASE just watch #[movie:648878:Eddington (2025)] instead!

surreal thriller, brilliant performance from Emma Stone and Jesse Lemons. super audacious

Idk, it was alright. The actors looked like they had fun on set. It was shot by a very competent filmmaker. And I guess there was some nods towards a point and theme? Dull, though. I don’t even mind the clumsy dialogue, I can deal with talk-y films. This was very baby’s-first-critique and it rang both hollow and bland. Lanthimos is at his best when he explores relationships and people, when he showcases refreshing lack of misanthropy. This was absent in this film, and made it boring—an unforgivable sin for a creative such as Lanthimos.

I dunno man when I see Emma Stone in a Lanthimos now I just think everything will be fine and any tension dissipates. She’s a great actress but like…get someone else for a change. I was thinking about how good someone grittier would have been for this role, such as Frances McDormand or Jodie Foster, people with more gravitas towards the grit. Everything felt a little clean and bright. Another thing that upset me was the set design. Nothing about it was memorable. When you watch #[movie:426426:Roma (2018)] or #[movie:496243:Parasite (2019)] you can be sure you are going to remember the space. I could almost draw you the floor plan of these homes. In Bugonia, I can’t tell you what the layout of any of these fucking places is. The house and basement is so bland and forgettable, the only interesting architectural spot was a moment on the stairs and a moment when a baby monitor needs to be out of view of a cop. It may not seem like much, but it comes across as ethereal spaces as opposed to believable reality, which makes me think about it, which decreases immersion. But maybe that’s just me. The last third was really fun, shame the rest was E X P O S I T I O N city for M O D E R N A U D I E N C E S

I was hoping for the Favourite-Deer-Lobster-Dogtooth Lanthimos, but got Poor Things Lanthimos instead, which means: too clean and tidy, especially considering the setting, thematically under-explored and, the worst of it all, spoonfed to an almost insulting degree. And too America-centered for my taste. The last third manages to save an otherwise boring handling of one of the most common questions in science fiction and social-political satire, a question we’ve seen asked and answered, and more creatively, million times before. All my compassion goes to that poor cousin that was forced to quietly listen to all the exposition dialogue. I totally understand why he did what he did. It feels like a movie without a vision. It feels like the writer of The Menu wrote it and Yorgos was convinced to direct it, which makes sense because that’s exactly what it is. I don’t regret seeing it, there were some good moments, but moments nonetheless. I suppose that hope indeed dies last because, despite this, I’m hoping for a fresh Yorgos comeback after the break.