I am reviewing Bugonia (2025) and Save the Green Planet (2003) together because I watched Bugonia before I discovered that it was a remake. As a rule, I don't watch remakes, especially Hollywood versions, because my experience is that they are never as good as the original. In this case, however, both of these films were excellent. My understanding is that Jang Joon-hwan was scheduled to direct the remake but was unable due to health issues. The choice of Lanthimos as replacement was perfect - I can't imagine anyone else truly understanding the wacky, dark humor of this narrative. Both films operate as a brilliant, hilarious, and deeply sardonic condemnation of mankind's worst impulses; the corporate titan at the center is a symbol of everything the industrial revolution unleashed upon the world. The films ask: what if the real aliens are those who've become so disconnected from humanity, from the earth itself, that they've transformed into something monstrous? The conceit, played with dark absurdist humor, becomes a funhouse mirror reflecting our own ecological devastation, our worship of profit over life, our willingness to sacrifice everything for growth, expansion, conquest. Hwang Jung-min and Emma Stone both deliver spectacular performances as the corporate head, each bringing completely distinct energy to the role. Hwang embodies a certain kind of entitled arrogance wi…

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