Spoiler warning for Bugonia

For this piece I’m going to assume you know Bugonia’s plot. There are plenty of summaries out there, but this film is both worth your time and best experienced (like most stories) without knowing anything about it upfront.

Cinematography: ★★★★.5

Soundtrack: ★★★★

Acting: ★★★★.5

Absurdity: ★★★★★

Narrative: ?

Standout Line: “Because I know exactly what you’re going to say. You’re going to say that I’m in some kind of Internet-induced autohypnotic feedback loop, and-and gatekeepers, and-and norms, and all that weak hegemonic horseshit. But that is precisely the limp-dick rhetoric that you’ve been instructed to counter the human insurgency with. That’s the fucking hyper-normalized dialectic by which you’ve convinced seven and a half billion people that they’re not your captives. To keep us believing in these fucking false institutional, fucking ‘shyboleths.’”

Let’s get a few things out of the way. The camera work is impeccable. The music is everything it should be. Emma Stone, Jesse Plemmons, and Aidan Delbis delivered. Their performances are gripping. Stone and Plemmons earned their Golden Globe nominations, though categorizing Bugonia as a Comedy/Musical is questionable. Also, it’s weird as hell and I love a weird movie. All around Bugonia is a paragon of how to tell a story on the big screen.

That leaves the story itself, and the line above is an excellent jumping off point. It’s the first moment in the film where I realized Teddy is somewhat self aware. Up to this point, the primary tension is whether or not you believe Teddy’s narrative about Michelle, which I naturally rejected. Everything on screen cues the audience to shut that narrative down. This is a moment where you realize Teddy had already been offered a way out and refused.

In fact, Michelle caves right after this interaction. She has realized that there will be no talking Teddy out of the fact that he thinks she’s an alien and admits to being one the following morning. This kills any hope I had that there might be some peaceful ending where Teddy is broken by doubt and led away in cuffs and tears. We’re fully in Teddy’s narrative now, correct or not, and we’re going to ride it all the way to the end.

Speaking of, I was extremely unsure of the ending at first. I so badly wanted Teddy’s narrative to be false that I resisted the idea that Michelle might actually be an alien all the way up until I watched as she teleported back to the mothership and slaughtered all of humanity.

I didn’t like that. I thought it gave Teddy too much credit. But first impressions are not final, and I think the ending is vital to seeing the larger, colonial, picture. Since watching, I have kept asking myself who the villain was. At first it seems like it’s Teddy. Then perhaps Michelle or Auxolith, or maybe multinational corps in general. All of these are partially true. As the final montage of death rolls across the screen, we are confronted with a set of existential questions: Are we really so parasitic that the only way forward for Earth is without us? How much fault lies with humanity in our own extinction? Does leaving all life except humanity untouched redeem the Andromedans?

In other words, did humanity deserve it? Which is perhaps a bit like asking if the anthill deserve to be flooded by those curious twelve year-olds who got bitten. Perhaps life is simply survival of the fittest, in which case the Andromedans are saint-like in their attempt to rehabilitate another sentient species. Personally I hold all life as sacred, so the answer is no.

This is crucial, because investigating the relationship between humanity and the Andromedans takes the focus away from the particulars of Teddy’s story, or even Michelle’s, and turns it toward the systems at play. We know enough about the history of the Andromedans to know that they are here because of the conscience of a long dead ruler and have stuck around because of their continued savior complex. Thus it is the colonizers, who by corrupting, controlling, and exterminating another species, become clear villains. In this telling, there is no redemption offered to the Andromedans.

As this is a narrative centered around a supposed conspiracy, I do have a concern. That conspiracy is revealed to be true, which is precisely why I was not initially a fan of the ending. I’m concerned that it is far too easy to walk away from this and think to yourself, “Gee. Teddy was right all along. I, too, might be right about the off beat thoughts that I have and should dig in and do my own research.” That is incredibly dangerous, particularly in the world of social media algorithms reflecting our desires and AI engines that are, by design, self congratulating. This thinking also leaves the hidden power dynamic largely unexamined.

This film risks that its audience will actually engage in the narrative, and despite Teddy being right, see his personal tragedy as a warning against isolation. In the wake of a third, thoughtless, James Cameron surging past $1 billion at the box office, I’m skeptical that people are actually interested in engaging with films in this way.

Bugonia is Russian roulette. It is an attempt to warn us about our self-destructive trajectory as a globalized society, and shed light on a system of oppression that only ends in tragedy. At the same time, the gun is loaded and could be deadly to the minds that cannot resist.

Clint Wilson

Clint Wilson (‘23) graduated from Calvin with an official degree in philosophy and unofficial degree in outdoor rec. They currently live in Denver and are working remotely for an LSAT prep company. You’ll likely find them slowly jogging a trail, belaying their wife up some rocks, or reading beneath a heap of blankets.