My Corner

Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia turns the collapse of humanity into a dark and biting reflection on control and delusion. The film follows Teddy, a disturbed beekeeper played by Jesse Plemons, and his cousin Donny, who kidnap Michelle Fuller, a pharmaceutical executive portrayed by Emma Stone. The two men convince themselves that Michelle belongs to an alien race planning the destruction of humankind. Their mission, rooted in fear and conspiracy, becomes a mirror for a society obsessed with purity, domination, and the illusion of righteousness.

Lanthimos builds each scene with precision and restraint. Every frame reveals a battle between cruelty and vulnerability. Plemons appears from a low angle to convey fanaticism and insecurity, while Stone’s face is framed from above like a saint awaiting judgment. The contrast forces the audience to question who holds power and who deserves mercy. Humor mixes with horror through careful pacing and subtle gestures, creating an atmosphere that feels both absurd and haunting.

The basement setting traps every character in moral confinement. Harsh shadows and confined space create a suffocating tension that reflects the spiritual emptiness behind their actions. The dialogue between captor and captive becomes a clash of delusion and reason, revealing how both privilege and desperation corrupt the human spirit. Each character represents a different form of decay: blind belief, corporate detachment, or quiet complicity.

By the final act, every sense of purpose crumbles under pride and obsession. The phrase “psychic compulsions” captures humanity’s sickness, a cycle of greed, paranoia, and self-importance that cannot be cured. Lanthimos offers no redemption and no comfort. Only a quiet recognition remains: human beings may not deserve survival, and the end of the species could be the only act of honesty left.