At the beginning of the 2000s there seemed to be a phase in which everything new and exciting in the genre cinema only came from South Korea. Especially in 2003 everything really came together: “Memories of Murder” by Bong Joon Ho, “Oldboy” by Park Chan-Wook, “A Tale of Two Sisters” by Kim Jee-Woon-and last but not least “Save the Green Planet!” by Joon-Hwan Jang, in which a bees breeding conspiracy theorists take an economic boss as hostage because he considers it to be an extraterrestrial from the planet Andromeda. The humor of the sci-fi comedy, which has long been mature as a cult classic, is so crazy and dark black that you could hardly imagine that a Hollywood remake can even keep up with regard to its pure madness …
… unless, of course, the “Greek Weird Wave” founder Yorgos Lanthimos (“Dogtooth”) takes over the direction! Together with his “Kinds of Kindness” stars Jesse Plemons (“Game Night”) and Emma Stone (“La La Land”), he plunges into “Bugonia” without a network and double floor into the fucked-off kidnapping plan, in which the two-time Oscar winner not only shaking up her hair (so that she can no longer communicate with her alien mother ship) and a daily lubrication with one Antihistaminic cream (which weakens her special Andromeda-dna) must endure. Electricity bumps are also far beyond what is actually tolerable for humans and the smash of their kneecaps are means to force them to contact their (supposed) alien leader.
The pharmaceutical CEO Michelle (Emma Stone) is targeted by the alien conspiracy theorists.
In the South Korean original, the kidnapping victim was also a clichéd CEO old school, a tough bone that is used to dancing everyone after his pipe and treating his subordinate like dirt. In the remake, on the other hand, there was not just gender changed: Michelle (Emma Stone), as CEO of a pharmaceutical chemistry group, has certainly completed all conceivable communication training. Apparently due to an accident that has not been carried out in more detail, she currently wants to get her employees to really work at 5:30 p.m. and spend more time with their families. Very responsible, but of course only if there is really nothing more to do and the odds are also fulfilled.
The criticism of the modern economic world, which is already in the original, becomes a focal point in the remake from the subtext to the text-and Yorgos Lanthimos also focuses on: When the parcel packer Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his apparently not fully developed cousin Dan (Aidan Delbis)-puts her victim with Jennifer-Aniston-Masks- Company drivers also defensive in close combat as astonishing. But afterwards “Bugonia” largely dispenses with the action-hugging slap stick of “Save the Green Planet!”, But focuses more on the psychological verbal battles between the stars: Michelle uses all possible communicative tactics in order to still bring the teddy captured in an online echo chamber.
Less insanity, more cleverness
In the script of the “The Menu” authors Will Tracy is talked much more than in the original. The entire subordinate line for the investigation by the police was almost completely removed in order to have even more space for the central duel at about the same term. Despite the usual staging of the staging of Yorgos Lanthimos, which can usually be filmed here from below with a light fishe eyes effect, this could also easily become a somewhat dry chamber or precise basement game. But that not only prevent the suddenly interspersed, often surprisingly blatant malice, but above all the two stars:
Jesse Plemons does not simply give a weird loose off the shelf, but gives his part a real tragedy, in which you always get tempted to keep his fingers crossed. He is supported by “Cluess” cult star Alicia Silverstone in a small but impressive supporting role as his opioid-dependent mother, whom he seems to treat in a bathtub-at least in his memory-oversized acupuncture needles.
Due to the progressive bee death, Teddy (Jesse Plemons) also recognized that an alien conspiracy on earth must be going.
However, once more Emma Stone, who, according to her Oscar-winning part in Lanthimos' “Poor Things”, turns everything back for her favorite director: with cutting hair and fully lubricated with antihistamine cream, which almost even seems like the white make-up of a silent film, she suddenly sees the bald-headed Yun-Shik Baek So unlike. Even in an unknown basement on hands and feet, with the kneecap jumped out and weakened by the power torture, you never have the feeling that her kidnappers could only be able to do the water …
Conclusion: The anarchic original was crazy and completely crazy over the topin the remake, Yorgos Lanthimos, on the other hand, try to say much more about the state of our world (probably not good) in his eyes – from climate change to the delusion of conspiracy. This is often not particularly subtle, but at the same time Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone in particular plunge into their roles so much that their psycho-duel is still incredibly happy-the particularly fucked-out variety. And the final 15 minutes are dark black comedy gold anyway!
We saw “Bugonia” at the Venice Filmfest 2025, where he celebrated its world premiere as part of the official competition.