Once again, a collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone has become the center of attention in Academy Awards discourse. Bugonia is expected to become the third film to earn him a Best Director nomination. At least, the momentum is trending in the right direction – the glowing reviews for Bugonia are the kind of critical acclaim that will positively affect its awards season journey.
Though this is Lanthimos’ first official remake, based on the South Korean movie Save the Green Planet!, it still features some of the idiosyncratic trademark choices we associate with the director, especially in movies written by him. For instance, Bugonia is clearly a “Good For Her” movie, making what seems like a dark ending on paper feel celebratory due to its perspective.
Bugonia likely shares its universe with Kinds of Kindness, and while the latter is a weaker film both ideologically and stylistically, the former is one of Lanthimos’ best movies ever. It also features an incredible performance by lead actor Jesse Plemons, marking his second consecutive collaboration with the director. If the movie’s Oscar campaign works, a long-running streak could end.
Jesse Plemons Is The Antagonist In Bugonia
Jesse Plemons plays Teddy, a conspiracy theorist who believes that Emma Stone’s corporate CEO character is actually an Andromedan alien sent to Earth to destroy all of humanity. He convinces his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) to assist him in his endeavor to use her get in touch with the Andromedan mothership he claims is about to make contact.
To that end, the two of them kidnap her and almost immediately shave her head, claiming that her hair is a communication device that allows the Andromedans to track and contact her. Teddy then graduates to torture, subjecting her to unspeakable pain to gather information on the aliens and on her mission on Earth. His conviction in his work is unwavering.
Teddy is the undoubted villain in Bugonia. A major plot twist even reveals details that seem to vindicate him, but the movie never allows you to think that his actions are even remotely justified. He is given a tragic backstory, but he also has a long-running history of villainous behavior that is almost impossible to overlook, especially since he’s remorseless.
Will Tracy, Bugonia‘s writer, has said in an interview he believes Teddy was right, but even he can’t defend Teddy’s actions, because it’s understood that there were better and more humane means to his end. So, Jesse Plemons’ role in the movie is clearly antagonistic, from start to finish. His tragic backstory doesn’t make him a sympathetic character.
Plemons Is Expected To Be A Best Actor Nominee In 2026
Plemons’ chilling, efficient, and composed performance as the horrifying Teddy should earn him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in 2026. He brings out this uncanny element in Teddy’s personality that is a blend between his humanity and his complete lack of regard for anyone else’s well-being, including Don’s. Plemons is the reason why Teddy makes your blood boil.
The nonchalance with which Teddy approaches his mad mission, never once doubting himself, even when torturing a person, is made believable by Plemons’ grounded dialogue delivery, cold body language, and the dead-serious look in his eyes. Bugonia‘s dry sense of humor relies on his and Emma Stone’s commitment to the bit, as it would be immersion-breaking to watch them laughing.
Plemons has a history of playing minor characters who steal the show, a feat he performed a couple of years ago in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and earlier in Jane Campion’s Power of the Dog, which earned him his first Oscar nomination. Bugonia is among Plemons’ best movies and shows, making a Best Actor nomination seem guaranteed.
Kevin Spacey Was The Last Person To Win Best Actor For Playing A Villain
Kevin Spacey’s Best Actor Oscar win in 2000, for playing Lester Burnham in American Beauty, was the last time that an actor won the award in that category for playing a villain. Joaquin Phoenix’s 2020 win for his performance in and as Joker might also be considered a break in the pattern, but the movie treats the titular character sympathetically.
There have been noteworthy wins for villain portrayals in other categories more recently, most notably Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight, J. K. Simmons for Whiplash, Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men, and Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds. Many of these are among the best Oscar-winning actor performances ever, proving villainous roles also have good chances of winning.
But, unless you consider Daniel Day-Lewis’ character as the villain in There Will Be Blood, where he plays a flawed protagonist more than a traditional antagonist, no villainous performance has won the Best Actor Oscar since Spacey in 2000. Now, after 26 years, if Jesse Plemons wins the Oscar in that category in 2026, the long-running streak might finally end.