Bugonia: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Surreal Masterpiece of Paranoia, Power, and Sound
Bugonia (2025) — A Major Critic’s Review
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone
Composer: Jerskin Fendrix
Sound Designer: Johnnie Burn
Bugonia is Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest audacious exploration into surreal, character-driven cinema. A darkly comic, unsettling meditation on paranoia, ideology, and the breakdown of shared reality, it is a film that challenges the viewer at every turn. Lanthimos has crafted a work that, for me, feels like two films in one: a tense, psychologically charged Earth-bound first part and a more abstract alien planet second part.
Artistic Vision and Structure
The first part of Bugonia takes place on Earth and is the film’s strongest section. Despite moments of violence, it features brilliant, darkly comic dialogue, particularly between the central couple. Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons carry these scenes with nuanced intensity, creating verbal exchanges that are as revealing of character as they are of the story’s thematic concerns. The Stockholm syndrome elements are executed with precision, evoking a psychological tension reminiscent of classic suspense films like The Collector (1965).
The second part, set on the alien planet, is more abstract and weaker in execution. While visually and sonically interesting, it lacks the tight, character-driven intensity of the first half, so I will focus this review on the Earth-bound section.
Performances
Emma Stone (Michelle Fuller): Stone delivers a fearless, career-defining performance, particularly as her character is stripped of her hair — a challenging transformation for any actor. She balances vulnerability, authority, and subtle menace, fully embodying the tension of captivity.
Jesse Plemons (Teddy Gatz): Plemons is the psychological core, delivering a controlled, clinical paranoia. His portrayal of a “redneck” personality could have veered into caricature, but it remains entirely credible. The tension he creates dominates the first part, drawing the audience into his worldview.
Aidan Delbis (Don): Delbis’ performance is superb, particularly in his portrayal of submission and quiet emotional depth. His reactions anchor the film’s intense psychological environment and complement Stone and Plemons beautifully.
The chemistry among the three leads is electric, and their dialogues — witty, chilling, and multi-layered — form the backbone of the film’s first part.
Technical Craft
Cinematographer Robbie Ryan employs composition, framing, and lighting to create a claustrophobic, unsettling atmosphere. Long takes, static frames, and tight interiors force the viewer into the characters’ perspective, making every glance, gesture, and line of dialogue resonate with tension.
The soundscape and score are equally integral to the film’s impact.
Sound Design and Score
Composer: Jerskin Fendrix
Fendrix composed the original score, marking his third collaboration with Lanthimos. He worked under an unconventional brief: write music inspired by only three words — “bees,” “basement,” and “spaceship” — without seeing the film.
Recorded with a 90-piece London Contemporary Orchestra, the score combines orchestral intensity with discordant, atmospheric elements. It mirrors the film’s emotional extremes, from claustrophobic dread to surreal tension.
Fendrix’s score leans less on traditional motifs and more on textural soundscapes, making music a psychological force, almost a character in its own right.
Sound Designer: Johnnie Burn
Renowned sound designer Johnnie Burn crafted the film’s intricate soundscape, layering real-world sounds with abstract audio to reflect character psychology.
Bees are a recurring motif: Burn recorded live bee sounds, analyzed their frequencies, and harmonized them with the score to reflect Teddy’s paranoia.
An alien language was created from recordings of Emma Stone’s voice, manipulated to construct a new linguistic soundscape for the alien planet section.
Foley and effects, like sparking electrical components, were designed not merely to simulate reality but to heighten emotional impact.
The combination of Fendrix’s score and Burn’s sound design makes sound a narrative protagonist in Bugonia, reinforcing tension, unease, and psychological disorientation.
Themes and Subtext
Truth and Belief: The film interrogates how ideology and paranoia shape perception. By immersing the audience in Teddy’s logic, Lanthimos forces reflection on the nature of rationality and madness.
Stockholm Syndrome & Power Dynamics: The interplay between captor and captive is carefully calibrated, blending emotional tension, manipulation, and reluctant empathy.
Absurdity vs. Believability: From the “redneck” portrayal to extreme actions, the film balances absurd elements with psychological realism.
Dialogue & Interaction: The Earth-bound dialogues showcase dark humor and moral complexity, while the alien world explores the surreal.
Audience & Critical Reception
The Earth-bound first half has been widely praised for its performances, dialogue, and tension. Online discussions emphasize the score and sound design as almost characters themselves, amplifying the film’s suspense. The second half, alien and abstract, has polarized audiences, leaving some disoriented.
Critics highlight the film’s audacity, particularly in its sound and music, as key elements that define its unsettling, immersive atmosphere.
Conclusion
Bugonia is a challenging, provocative work, strongest in its Earth-bound first half. Stone and Plemons deliver electrifying performances, Delbis is unforgettable, and Lanthimos’ technical mastery — from cinematography to sound — creates moments of true cinematic brilliance.
While the second part falters, the first half alone is enough to mark the film as significant, exploring obsession, captivity, and psychological distortion with extraordinary craft. For audiences willing to embrace tension, ambiguity, and discomfort, Bugonia offers a rare, immersive experience where sound, dialogue, and performance converge to create genius.
Verdict: Bugonia is not just a film to watch — it’s a film to experience, listen to, and feel. Its score and soundscape are as integral as its narrative, making it a masterclass in cinematic immersion.
