Honestly, it makes a ton of sense that Yorgos Lanthimos would remake Jang Jun-Hwan’s Save the Green Planet. Not only is it perfect for Lanthimosian comedy, but that 2003 South Korean sci-fi comedy was prescient in a way that very few films are lucky enough to be. We live, after all, in an era where its plot wouldn’t seem particularly out of place on the New York Times front page — a conspiracy theorist kidnapping a CEO because they think she’s an alien is, unfortunately, pretty rote these days.
But leave it to Lanthimos to make something as wacky as Bugonia looks from this trailer, which Focus Features dropped earlier on Thursday to accompany its premiere at Venice. Get ready to hear a lot about this one in the coming months and go ahead and start placing your bets for Emma Stone to win another Best Actress Oscar and drive everybody in the awards press fuckin’ crazy.
Peep it:
Here’s a synopsis for Bugonia:
“Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.”
And here’s what it says on the back of the DVD for Save the Green Planet!:
“Wild and wacky sci-fi comedy horror by South Korean director Jang Jun-Hwan. Byeong-Ju (Ha-Kyun Shin) is a confused young man who believes that a major industrialist, Kang (Yun-Shik Baek) is actually an alien from outer space who is out to destroy the planet. Along with his dippy girlfriend, circus performer Sun-i (Jeong-Min Hwang), Byeong-Ju kidnaps Kang and tries to force him – using increasingly extreme methods of interrogation – to reveal his ‘royal genetic code’ before the next full moon…”
Bugonia hits theaters on October 24. Go ahead and start shaping your tinfoil hats, because you’ll want them in the theater.