Plot
Teddy, who is deep into conspiracy theory, along with his younger (and moderately autistic) cousin Donny, kidnap Michelle, a CEO of a pharmaceutical company.
Teddy believes Michelle is an alien, and is part of an alien government that wants to end mankind, and Teddy is desperate to start a dialogue to stop it, especially given the next Lunar eclipse is in 4 days – and that’s when she can contact her spaceship!
The only problem is Michelle has no clue what they are talking about, and does not know how to get it through to Teddy – as he is too far gone with his beliefs.
Direction
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the Greek American director. This is actually his first film that I have reviewed, so I will look to do more of his films soon.
The final arc of the film *** spoiler *** does lean into the absurd, which generally I am not a fan of that much. It does shift gears in the film from ultra realistic, to somewhat sci-fi.
Cast/Characters
Emma Stone plays Michelle, the 45 year old CEO, who looks a decade younger than she really is…
She gives a brilliant performance, where she shows genuine terror at her ordeal (and it is an ordeal). She also holds her own in some fantastic dialogue between Teddy. She deserves her Oscar nomination.
Jesse Plemons plays (another?) the psychotic Teddy, who is deeply embedded in his conspiracy theory. He gives a truly terrifying performance as his belief leads him to some shocking actions. Special mention needs to go how great he looks now, as he has lost a tonne of weight since his El Camino days.
Newcomer (and neurodivergent) Aidan Delbis plays Don, the heartbreaking cousin to Teddy. He seems to be the heart of the movie, and has some both genuinely lovely – and shocking moments.
Breakdown
From a ‘narrative’ stand point, it is fairly basic – two men (Teddy who is clearly an Alpha in his ‘relationship’ with his cousin, and Don his special needs cousin – who is the Beta), kidnap a woman as Teddy believes her to be an alien. Not just an alien, but part of a group that reports to an empress that can wipe out humanity with a press of a button.
Michelle is introduced as s seemingly ruthless CEO, who is overly confident and is able to hold her own in diatribe. Her kidnapping is hilarious as the boys (in Jennifer Aniston masks) struggle to keep up with her physically (but drug her, then shave her long hair as this is ‘how the aliens communicate).
She is then held in a run down house basement (which looks incredible – great job by the set decorators), where she is told she must keep herself lathered in antihistamine cream to stop her alien powers. She goes along with them at times, happily feeding to Ted’s delusions in fantastic dialogue (and Oscar nominated for the screenplay). There is a very hard to watch mid movie scene in which they torture her to near death, and this switches gears when Teddy not believes her to not be a ‘worker’ bee – but a member of the royal family of aliens.
From here the film amps up somewhat, with some great dialogue between Michelle and Teddy once again, on subjects such as honey bees, and more importantly his bed ridden mother (who Michelle tells how to ‘help’) her get better, as her company was the cause of her illness. All of her scenes previously (played by an underused Alicia Silverstone) are seen in Black and White).
The final act, might be divisive (it was in my podcast episode on this film – check it out below) – as it… seriously stop reading if you haven’t seen the movie… reveals that Michelle not only is an alien, but is the empress that Teddy wanted to have dialogue with, and because of his actions – she does indeed press that button (or pop the bubble on what looks like a dome over a flat earth)
Nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, Actress (for Stone), Screenplay and an absolutely incredible Score.
Overall
While not an original concept, it is a remake of the 2003 film (I have not seen) Save the Green Planet – the overall result is brilliant.
The dialogue between the characters, the performances (how was Plemons not nominated for an Oscar??) and that Score! The ending is up for debate, (please check out my podcast).
I really enjoyed this, and highly recommend it.
4/5
Please check out the YouTube channel I have with my mate Ant, where we discuss this one (and more!) Please subscribe if you haven’t yet!
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