Bugonia

bugonia is yorgos' most experimental, out-there and just straight up absurd film he's ever done, but it still managed to grip me with tension the whole way through.
the movie is two men, one mentally ill (aidan delbis) and one extremely conspiratorial (jesse plemons), kidnap a multi-millionaire ceo (emma stone), because they believe she's an alien sent to destroy the earth. and for such a silly concept, i deeply respect yorgos' decision to play it completely serious as it somehow grounds it and makes it more realistic.
the cinematography was claustrophobic yet open, with bugonia almost exclusively using wide shots or close-ups, barely ever giving us a mid-shot to see the character's full body. and this leads to some beautiful, mesmerizing wide shots of dark, dingy basements, and tight close-ups of the actors' full emotion on display.
speaking of which, the acting was maybe the best in any yorgos film yet. emma stone plays this conniving, too-self-righteous-for-her-own-good character 'michelle fuller', who throughout the film constantly tries to manipulate and persuade the cousins, to no avail. the first cousin, jesse plemons' 'teddy gatz', is so convinced and subscribed to this idea that she is an alien he even shaves her hair so she "can't contact her mothership" and is constantly degrading her to the point of torture. the second cousin, aidan delbis' 'don' has some sort of mental disability and has unfortunately attached himself to teddy and is too deep in on his plot to come to his senses.
there is one scene in which teddy is distracting a police officer outside the house and don is left to guard michelle, (who is constantly referred to as 'it'), with a shotgun. she eventually persuades and lies to him that if he lets her go, she will take him in space with no repercussions. then don, in the most shocking, unexpected and horrifying part in the whole movie, suddenly shoots himself in the head and dies. i was already anxious but this scene threw me for a loop and i visibly grimaced and jumped in my seat when it happened. in my eyes, this is the scene the movie will be remembered for, and it may even catapult yorgos into a new chapter of his films.
my only problem with the movie comes at the end, where it is revealed that michelle really was an alien all along, which i expected anyway but the way it was executed was unfortunately jarring and felt like a whole different film, as the aliens are in abstract sets, almost wool-like 'clothing' and are talking in their native language, which is a complete 180° in the gritty, awfully realistic tone i thought the movie was going for.
anyway, a super long review but i though i better get all my thoughts down as quickly and efficiently as possible. greatly uncomfortable watch, i was left feeling sad and disgusted in the best, most yorgos lanthimos way possible.