I didn’t expect these movies to have anything in common thematically
spoiler
but they’re both literally about moon guys making life real sad
Also, both had an immersion breaking moment when someone I know from podcasting showed up halfway through the film.
And they’re both great! Highly recommend to everyone here. I’m sure mostly everyone here has seen I Saw the TV Glow but Bugonia is another Lanthimos banger.
Bugonia is the first Lanthimos movie I’ve actually liked. The end is pretty predictable based on the fact that it’s Lanthimos, but the loosening of his “It’s my movie so you’ll have to accept that this universe has certain unspoken rules that make the characters’ choices seem normal” rule made it easier to digest. You don’t have to take nearly as much for granted as much as you do in most of his other movies.
I really liked how it had some tension about whether it’s set in the real world or not. Reminded me of Beau is Afraid which also made you wonder whether it was taking place in reality or just inside the head of the protagonist.
I found The Killing of a Sacred Deer very frustrating for that reason. But didn’t mind his other movies, maybe Kinds of Kindness has a little too many strange character moments but it was novel enough that I didn’t mind.
You should check out Dogtooth, it’s also one of his movies where there aren’t hidden rules.