Buogonia, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, arrives with a poised, somber tone

The Korean films Late Autumn, Crazy/Beautiful, and Oldboy share a common thread: they were remade in Hollywood, and the remakes did not receive as favorable reviews as the originals. So what about the Hollywood remake Buogonia of Earth to Save the World, which opens on the fifth? Directed by one of Hollywood’s most influential filmmakers today, Yorgos Lanthimos, Buogonia has entered the Venice International Film Festival’s competition and is tipped to be a major Oscar contender in March next year. So it’s reasonable to worry that it might follow those earlier examples.

Buogonia stays faithful to the original despite more than two decades and the setting being moved to a U.S. outskirts city. Details such as the hair-based alien communication and scenes where the abduction is exposed through monitors carry the same DNA as Earth to Save the World. The original, released in 2003, flopped at the box office, but this remake is seen as proof of how fresh and compelling the tale can be. The remake’s project comes from a team that includes Ari Aster, known for Hereditary and Midsommar, and Will Trac, a writer for the acclaimed TV drama Succession.

The biggest difference lies in the characters: in the original, Baek Yoon-sik played the corrupt entrepreneur Man-sik, but in the remake the role is gender-swapped to Michelle, the head of a biotech company, played by Emma Stone. The change isn’t only about gender; the two characters reflect shifts in the era and the ideas they embody. Teddy, who firmly believes in aliens, abducts Michelle with his cousin Don, convinced that Michelle is the mastermind who rendered his mother vegetative and that aliens intend to destroy the Earth. Michelle is portrayed as a young, capable, self-assured entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, in contrast to the original’s depiction.

The remake’s atmosphere is heavier and more elegant than the original’s B-movie humor and kitschy mise-en-scène, with Lanthimos’s signature, dreamlike, lyrical directing on display. Fans of the original’s offbeat humor and eerie mood may find parts of Buogonia challenging or divergent. Buogonia targets the ruin of humanity through pollution and decay, delivering a bleak, apocalyptic message. The title Buogonia derives from an ancient belief that bees arise from a cow’s carcass, a misbelief tied to a ritual meant to bring punishment.