As I previously stated, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was written by Seth Reiss, who also wrote The Menu. I should have mentioned that he co-wrote The Menu with Will Tracy, who now has a new solo credit on Bugonia. What can you expect with this one?
Tracy's screenplay reworks the South Korean film, Save the Green Planet!, for Yorgos Lanthimos to direct. In it, we find corporate drone Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons), and his autistic cousin, Donnie (Aidan Delbis), facing a world crisis. Convinced that Aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy are out to invade, the cousins nab Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), a major CEO, whom they suspect is one of them. After they shave her bald and lock her in their basement, Teddy & Donnie start prodding her to take them to her leader.
While Teddy's plan seems delusional, it's also personal. It turns out that his mom, Sandy (Alicia Silverstone, utterly unrecognizable), was rendered comatose by one of Michelle's medical trials. As Michelle proves to be an uncooperative hostage, Teddy's already fragile ego cracks away. It also turns out that Michelle might be that leader, which means that Teddy & Donnie might have doomed the human race.
In case you can't tell, this is a rather bleak & strange movie. A huge portion of the film has Teddy relentlessly interrogate Michelle; he still shackles her after he "realizes" her secret. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan frequently films Michelle and her captors in tight close-ups, with nothing but darkness around them. Their actual surroundings, as visualized by James Price, aren't that comforting either. Teddy & Don's house is a mess, in more ways than one, and that's before Michelle finds Teddy's secret room. Before that secret, we're treated to the first of the film's extremely bloody deaths. To quote Lanthimos's last film, "isn't it wonderful?"
At the center of it all, we have two relentlessly flawed people. When we're first introduced to Teddy, his conspiracy theories make him sound like an amusing lunatic. But once we learn of his personal tragedy, his silliness starts to dissipate, until we finally learn how disturbed he is. Still, his lack of common sense gives us some dark levity after we see his secret room. Meanwhile, we have Michelle, who proves herself a subtly manipulative woman, at least by Earth standards. She's the kind of woman who would subtly trick someone into murder and consider that a mercy kill. Yes, that's a subtle spoiler, by the way. She's notably, understandably, and extremely angry when she finds Teddy's secret room, but she's not off the hook either.
And then there's Donnie, who's wonderfully played by Delbis in his first film. He's Teddy's reluctant follower, who only joins him in insanity out of misguided devotion. He eventually draws a line but can't bring himself to free Michelle and end the movie. Still, we and Michelle recognize him as a good man. If this were an optimistic movie, his innate goodness would give humanity hope for survival. But alas, it's not, and his premature end gives way to the apocalyptic, but not too bloody, finale.
Upon first glance, you won't be able to recognize Silverstone as Sandy. But you won't forget the moment Teddy visits her in the hospital, that's for sure. We also have Stavros Halkias as Casey, a jovial cop with a disturbing secret, as well as an equally disturbing demise. Michelle, bathed in antihistamine cream (long story), looks rather ghoulish with Ryan's cinematography. Ryan gets a few extra points for filming around Atlanta, including a few spots I've frequently visited decades ago. In the opening, Jerskin Fendrix masterfully contrasts Michelle with her eventual captors through his surreal score. I'd probably spell out too much of the film if I go further into its visual aspects, but I'll have to say that Jennifer Johnson has saved some of her funniest costume designs for that finale.
Like Lanthimos's other films, Bugonia is not for everyone, but it's still darkly funny and visually appealing. Its final minutes are destined to spawn film debates for years to come. You'll have to see it if you want to believe it; even then, you might not want to believe it. I won't blame you if you skip it; you'll have plenty of more optimistic choices coming this fall. I think I said enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment