Unfolding like a psychological seesaw of balanced fear, delusion, and unexpected intimacy—Teddy Gatz has slipped so deeply into conspiracy thinking that it has isolated him, leaving old wounds to surface as either hyper-focus or total disorientation. Michelle, meanwhile, may not hold the physical power in their situation, but she exerts a different kind of control: a sharp, almost surgical composure born from someone used to shaping the world on her own terms. In Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia (read our Venice review) , the chemistry between Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons is witnessed in the many sequences loaded with a strange magnetism: she studies him like a puzzle she refuses to admit she’s solving, while he treats her as both threat and salvation. Together it makes for the year’s best odd couple.
I had the chance to ask Yorgos a couple of questions the week before, and last week I had the chance to ask Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons about the build up and the construction of one of the film’s many zany sequences — more specifically the fateful spaghetti and meatballs tête-à-tête concludes with Teddy erupting and lunging at his captive. Focus Features had its wide release Bugonia in late October.
