Bugonia (2025)

Direction: Yorgos Lanthimos
Country: USA

Bugonia, a delirious sci-fi thriller by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, 2009; The Favourite, 2018; Poor Things, 2023), is propelled by violence, dark humor, paranoia, and outlandish situations. The film, a remake of Jang Joon-hwan’s South Korean hit Save the Green Planet! (2003), stars Lanthimos’s muse Emma Stone, who maneuvers through different dramatic registers with unflinching force; Jesse Plemons, delivering a convincing bravura performance; and first-timer Aidan Delbis, a welcome surprise. Will Tracy (The Menu, 2022) wrote the script, and Ari Aster (Hereditary, 2018) co-produced alongside Stone, Lanthimos, and others.

Cousins Teddy (Plemons), an enraged, manic conspiracy theorist, and the submissive Don (Delbis), who behaves like an innocent child, kidnap Michelle Fuller (Stone), a powerful pharmaceutical CEO they believe to be an Andromedan on a special mission to Earth. Their goal is to force a meeting with her alien emperor, negotiating the withdrawal of her species in order to save the planet. The choice is not arbitrary: Teddy and Michelle share a charged history. 

The film confronts a postmodern society in decline, voicing anxieties about human extinction and Earth’s urgent need for care and healing. While its message is clear, the narrative is provocatively mounted, with Lanthimos once again subverting norms—this time through a mix of cynicism, absurdism, eccentric sci-fi, and a wacky, dystopian doomsday theory. The ferocity of his direction is striking, and the story grows more intriguing and disconcerting as it progresses, carrying a kind of grip sorely missing from many recent entries in the genre.

Bugonia is a wild, offbeat eco-tale built with boundless imagination, sprinting toward a punishing finale that dismantles a macabre farce and plunges into perpetual tragedy. Though it sometimes feels calculated, it is also finely crafted, hallucinatory, and immensely entertaining. A galvanizing cinematic experience with a radical edge—one that, whether you love it or hate it, won’t be easy to forget.

Poor Things (2023)

Direction: Yorgos Lanthimos
Country: USA

Greek-born filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is able to keep audiences in giddy laughter or shocking horror. Known for his unique storytelling in films like Dogtooth (2009), The Lobster (2015), and The Favourite (2018), he presents his latest black comedy, Poor Things. Adapted from Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel, the film is written by Tony McNamara and features a stellar cast, including Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, and Ramy Youssef.

The film follows the story of Bella (Stone), a candid young Victorian woman brought back to life by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Godwin Baxter (Dafoe). With newfound free will, Bella embarks on a journey of self-discovery, choosing to explore life with its pleasures and challenges. Her unconventional choices, including running away with lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Ruffalo), will teach her many things, ultimately sending her back to an unimaginable past of darkness.

Gorgeously rendered, the film offers a smart and eccentric exploration of society and the human experience. An ambitious idea framed with visual distinction and spirited performances, where vertiginous philosophical foundations merge with a strong determination in self-learning and sexual liberation. This sinister tale is hilarious in spots, persistently full of life (despite dealing with death), and provocative as the hip filmmaker likes to shape his off-kilter comedies. 

With its moody soundscape by Jerkin Fendrix and superb cinematography by Robbie Ryan, Poor Things is the standout unconventional comedy of the year. Lanthimos continues to surprise audiences with his daring imagination, offering a fresh and intoxicating cinematic experience.

La La Land (2016)

Directed by Damien Chazelle
Country: USA

Everyone who loves movies knows the value of Damien Chazelle, the writer/director of “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench” and the three-Oscar-winning “Whiplash”. His passion for music is no secret, thus, it is not a surprise that his third feature film, “La La Land”, falls into a musical/comedy/romance that overflows with warmth and grace.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, teaming up for the third time (“Crazy Stupid Love” and “Gangster Squad”) in their careers, make an interesting couple that struggles in LA to follow their dreams. Gosling is Sebastian, a jazz pianist whose intention is to open his own club; Stone is Mia, a part-time barista and actress-wannabe who deserves more luck than she has in the castings.

A set of unexpected encounters will bring their lives together, and they’ll keep running after the right opportunity that could bring them success in their careers. With love and understanding spanning the four seasons of the year, Sebastian and Mia seem to be destined for each other.
However, life takes many turns, and disappointment makes part of it.
The film’s last section is an agreeable surprise that smartly reawakened the curiosity that had gradually lost.  

Lightly funny and imbued of a vital swinging jazz (the orchestration comes from Chazelle’s former classmate and regular collaborator, Justin Hurwitz), “La La Land” is a charming and entertaining romance that auspiciously borrows the looks and mood of Jacques Demy’s movies. It is not Chazelle’s best film because it doesn’t have the vibrancy of “Whiplash”. Notwithstanding, the film is nicely staged, musically exciting, and technically stainless.