Two gifted actors, one punishing sci-fi farce

THE HUMAN RACE IS IN A SORRY state, and here comes Yorgos Lanthimos with an aggressively wicked black comedy to tell us all about it.

- —S.Z.

Haven't you heard? Many of us no longer get our news from “the news.” We embrace nutty conspiracy theories to justify our own beliefs, and we blindly trust our corporate overlords even as they drain our lifeblood. Not only that, but the bees are dying. These are all good reasons to feel bummed out, but leave it to Lanthimos to express his dismay in the most arch and self-congratulatory way possible. To paraphrase an old Peanuts cartoon, Lanthimos loves mankind; it's people he can't stand.

Bugonia begins with a plot and a duo of plotters: Jesse Plemons plays Teddy, a sad-eyed loner with a brain-numbing job and a fondness for bees, which he keeps in the yard of his mildly shabby house. He’s a guy who knows the truth about things—he’s researched it all on the internet—and he’s schooling his sweet, naive cousin, Donny (Aidan Delbis), in his findings.