At this point, I’d be concerned if Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone made a film together that *wasn’t* unhinged.

“Bugonia” is a remake of the 2003 film “Save the Green Planet!,” and follows two conspiracy theorists (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) that kidnap a pharmaceutics CEO (Emma Stone), convinced that she is an alien planning on destroying Earth. Yorgos Lanthimos directs, marking his fourth collaboration with Stone.

I really enjoy Yorgos Lanthimos’ films, and Emma Stone has always been one of my favorite actors. Their partnership over the last near-decade has produced Stone’s best work, including her Oscar-winning role in “Poor Things,” which I think will be cited as one of the best performances of the 21st century for years to come. Lanthimos’ films are always a little weird (or a lot weird) so it can take some warming up to fully get invested into his style, but “Bugonia” is one of his more easily-accessible films, playing like “Misery” with the crazy dialed all the way up to 11.

Emma Stone has shown throughout her career that she is capable of delivering great dramatics, and we know she can be funny from her early films (“Superbad,” “Easy A”, and even “La La Land”). She gets to play a little bit of a different character in “Bugonia,” a powerful CEO who suddenly finds herself at the whim of two possibly mentally unwell individuals. Stone perfectly depicts the processing behind every line delivery, as she knows saying the wrong thing (or even the right one) could result in her demise. She also gets a few chances to show off her deadpan humor skills, as well as convey the fear that would sink all our stomachs when you realize the danger of being held hostage by someone who truly believes in their cause, no matter how insane it seems.

Jesse Plemons is an actor I feel we undervalue, but especially for his humor. His masterful performance in “Game Night” aside, Plemons mostly sticks to drama films, but even in those he can be deceptively funny, Here, as a tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist, Plemons is great at riding the necessary line between unhinged psycho and convicted rebel. He truly believes in his heart that what he is doing is not only just, but necessary in order to save the human race from extinction. His cat-and-mouse mind games with Stone are a joy to behold, and his interactions with Aidan Delbis, his neurodivergent cousin and partner-in-crime, offer an extra layer to the character.

The film does a good job at poking fun at modern conspiracy theories and how desperate some people on the internet are for answers and explanations, even if they’re not necessarily the correct ones. Since Plemons buys into everything he is saying and doing, and of course Stone denies them, it makes the viewer unsure if they should themselves lean into the absurdity or realize that everything being presented is inherently goofy. It also does a thing I like where it allows the same film to be viewed by two people in two entirely different lenses: to some, they’ll take everything Stone is saying as genuine and see her as a victim, while others may buy into the possibility of her being an alien, and it’s all just one big manipulation by her. Interested what a rewatch will do for this knowing all the character motivations that I do now.

While the film has some darkly comedic moments, as all of Lanthimos’ movies do, there are a few fairly intense sequences, too. Since we go so long not seeing or knowing what each character is truly capable of, there’s a sense that nobody is safe and could snap at any second. One exchange between Stone and Delbis really had me anxious about what was going to happen, and I give Lanthimos a lot of credit for being able to string together such an effective (essentially single location) thriller like he did.

I don’t think ending will be exactly divisive, but it will definitely annoy some viewers. I thought it was fine, but it does go on for a tad too long; the point Lanthimos wants to make gets across in the first ten seconds, but the scene probably lasts over two minutes. I also think there is a plot point and character introduced midway through that feels a bit tacked-on, and while I understand the reason to include them I just think they’re only referenced when the plot needs them to be there, and the way they’re involved with the story is a little more fantastical than the rest of the film.

“Bugonia” is another messed-up black dramedy from the minds of Yorgos and Stone, and it’s a partnership I hope continues for years to come. Lanthimos has said he plans on taking a hiatus after making three movies in three years, and during that time I hope Stone returns to something lighter; her 2010s romcom run was really fun. Nevertheless, their latest outing is a fitting, deranged mirror of our modern world, and really does feel plausible (I also quickly want to mention the musical score, which is so over-the-top operatic but I really enjoyed it!). So long as you go in knowing Yorgos’ style, or at the very least are aware that things get weird, then I think this is another successful installment of the “humans can never leave well-enough alone” cinematic universe.

Critics Rating: 8/10