PR in the Philippines

(SeaPRwire) –   Perhaps some viewers of Bugonia felt a chill, wondering how the film knew their deepest suspicions. Conspiracy theories are a staple of internet culture, often pushing beliefs to extreme levels. In our “post-truth” era, the brain’s natural pattern recognition has become a vulnerability, blending fragments of truth with outright falsehoods—a theme central to this movie.

In the film’s narrative, cousins Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Elbis) construct a reality based on internet forums and personal trauma. They are convinced that the world is governed by “Andromedans,” aliens masquerading as humans to conduct long-term experiments. Their agenda includes the systematic extinction of honeybees, a critical issue.

However, the term “ordinary” is subjective, particularly regarding Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the CEO of a pharmaceutical conglomerate that Teddy blames for his mother’s coma. If he weren’t so consumed by theories about gamma rays and chemical castration, he might explain his reasoning. Teddy works for the same company, complicating matters when he and Don kidnap Michelle and bind her to a cot in Teddy’s basement.

While the premise is intense, director Yorgos Lanthimos approaches Bugonia as a dark comedy. The film elicits simultaneous gasps and laughter, culminating in a shocking moment of gore. This tension is highlighted by Stavros Halkias, who plays a childhood friend of Teddy, a cop whose presence is both uncomfortable and absurd.

The humor escalates alongside the violence, culminating in an explosive finale that makes the film highly rewatchable. Online communities, particularly on Reddit, dissect the plot twists, offering a fun perspective upon revisiting the movie.

Yet, the most surprising element is yet to come.

It may seem paradoxical to call a movie tame given its depiction of a man in a tinfoil hat torturing a woman with electric shocks while Green Day plays, but compared to its source material, Bugonia is relatively mild. Although the plots differ, particularly in the final act, Bugonia is adapted from the South Korean thriller Save the Green Planet!, a hidden gem directed by Jang Joon-hwan that gained cult status after Arrow Video released a 4K UHD edition earlier this year.

Simply put, Save the Green Planet! leans more heavily into horror and torture than Bugonia — which, again, is primarily a comedy. Released in 2003, before the internet permeated daily life, the original film and its ending resonate differently in today’s digital age.

The ideal viewing experience is to watch both films together: As a pair, Save the Green Planet! and Bugonia illuminate the internet’s influence on 21st-century history. (Bugonia would also make a compelling double feature with Eddington, 2025’s other black comedy about conspiracy culture, directed by Bugonia producer Ari Aster and also co-starring Stone.) Even on its own, however, Bugonia is a film with a lot to say about how we got here, and the way we live now.

Bugonia is now streaming on Netflix.