Yorgos Lanthimos' stylish and sardonic take on the Korean sci-fi caper Save The Green Planet! defies the remake odds. In times of great societal upheaval, it becomes appealing for many to find a scapegoat upon which all ills and injustice can be conveniently pinned. Some choose a minority based on race, gender, religion or sexuality; others might opt for another country more generally, or, in the case of Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons), an alien species from a neighbouring galaxy known as Andromedons, who are single-handedly bringing about the slow death of the human race. Teddy relays this to his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) with the patience and confidence one might explain the life cycle of a frog to a small child: this information is, was, and always shall be. Despite some reservations about Teddy's alien conspiracy, the younger, naive Don trusts his cousin's judgement, becoming his accomplice in an abduction plot to prevent Earth from certain doom. The plan is simple: abduct a high-ranking Andromedon who is posing as a human on earth and use them to obtain access to the mothership where they might plead the planet’s case.An understandable level of scepticism has surrounded Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia – based on Jang Joon-hwan's 2003 Korean sci-fi black comedy Save The Green Planet! – since it was announced, given Hollywood's track record with English-language remakes of East Asian films. For every The Departed there's an Old Boy (2013) or Ghost in the Shell, and screenwriter Will Tracy's biggest feature credit (co-writing the irredeemable social satire The Menu) added little in the way of confidence. Consider this a formal apology to Tracy and an admission of humility for doubting Lanthimos' artistic instincts – the droll, disturbing and unexpectedly moving Bugonia more than justifies its offshoot existence. Of course, it helps that original director and writer Jang Joon-hwan gave the remake his blessing, collaborating with Tracy on the script and initially lined up to direct before ill health caused him to step back, leaving the film in Lanthimos' capable hands.As well as reuniting with Plemons following Kinds of Kindness, Bugonia marks Lanthimos' fourth collaboration in a row with Emma Stone (sixth if you include their recent Jerskin Fendrix music video and short film Bleat), here cast as Michelle Fuller, the Elizabeth Holmes-coded biotech girl boss caught in Teddy's crosshairs. It's easy to understand why an actress like Stone chooses to work with Lanthimos so often; the parts he finds for her are distinct and memorable, playing to her strengths as a comedian while also commanding some dramatic heft. Stone – who hasn't been shy about the fact she agreed to have her head shaved on-camera in the back of a car for Bugonia – is fantastically game and compelling, as unpredictable as Plemons but with the benefit of her expressive eyes, as soulful and wide as E.T's.A number of Lanthimos' key collaborators return behind the scenes return too: Jerskin Fendrix (Score), Robbie Ryan (Cinematography), Yorgos Mavropsaridis (Editor), James Price (Production Design), Johnnie Burn (Sound Design) and Jennifer Johnson (Costume Design). Perhaps it's his fidelity to this team of collaborators that creates such a fluid vision; much like the honey bees that Teddy lovingly tends to in his garden, every artist moves in service of a grand design. Although Lanthimos has moved away from the stilted hyper-stylised hallmarks which announced him to the filmmaking world at large, his preoccupation with misfits and oddballs endures. Limp-haired, grubby and isolated, Teddy has become entirely consumed by his search for answers, mired by anger and pain following the slow deterioration of his mother following an opioid addiction and disastrous clinical trial which has left her in a coma. Usually softly spoken despite his outlandish propensity towards violent outbursts adds an animalistic quality; Plemons is consistently diverting and haunted, eerily calm until he suddenly, shockingly isn't. At his side, newcomer Aidan Delbis more than holds his own, imbuing Don with a tragic tenderness, exploitable because of the vulnerability which makes him such a welcome contrast from his cousin. (This alteration from Jang's text – in which the kidnappers were a couple – adds a welcome emotional resonance.)Bugonia is also far less oblique than Lanthimos' previous works, particularly his collaborations with Efthymis Filippou, and at times Tracy's credentials as a former Succession writer and Editor-in-Chief of 'The Onion' are unmistakable. It's very much a contemporary film, with Teddy gamely noting he'd tried "the alt-right, alt-light, leftist and Marxist" ideologies before settling on his alien conspiracy. Yet what might have been cloying even a couple of years ago seems starkly real now, as western society fragments further into isolationism and individuals become radicalised by their own suffering and misdirected anger.Despite Lanthimos and Tracy's past form for unbridled cynicism, there's a strangled sort of sadness about Bugonia; a tangible pang of regret that humanity can't seem to help fucking itself over, time and time again. This is no screed against the dangers of online conspiracy rabbit holes (though the warning is implicit) or the many competing crises fighting for attention on a daily basis, but rather a lament for humanity's own "suicidal gene" as Michelle puts it, and the parasitic nature of capitalism that exploits our biological vulnerabilities. And even beyond the question of 'Is she or isn't she?' about Michelle's taxonomy, Bugonia is undoubtedly a sci-fi film, with Fendrix pulling in favours from John Williams' classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind score and Price aping the apiary in his extraterrestrial design. Ryan too – one of contemporary cinema's most talented cinematographers – is firing on all cylinders, with the earthy greens, oranges and yellows that saturate Teddy and Don's cluttered cottage a sharp contrast from the cool otherworldly sterility of Michelle's glass mansion, like a spaceship dropped in suburban Georgia.For the curious, the film's title refers to a concept in ancient Greek mythology that suggested bees were born from the carcasses of dead cows in an act of spontaneous creation. While this is not exactly the case (and there's some debate over whether it was a metaphorical or literal concept anyway), the ancient Greeks weren't entirely off base; from death comes life, if not bees directly. Perhaps, given all the misery humanity has wrought over thousands of years, the best planet Earth can hope for is a swift end to the suffering and a chance to start again. The post Bugonia – first-look review first appeared on Little White Lies.