Writer’s Note: The less you know about Bugonia, the better, so if you haven’t seen the film, be aware that there are plot spoilers in this interview. It’s easy to catch up, though. Bugonia is streaming on Peacock!
Three Films. Three Years. Three Words: Bees. Basement. Spaceship.
Jerkin Fendrix sits down to dinner with his friend and frequent collaborator, Yorgos Lanthimos. He receives a three-word brief—bees, basement, spaceship— from the famed Greek auteur director. In fact, he doesn’t see a script for Bugonia until after he’s finished working on the film. Fendrix is used to these eccentricities, though he’s done three films with Lanthimos in three years—the Oscar-winning Poor Things, anthology Kinds of Kindness, and the conspiracy-riddled drama, Bugonia.
Jesse Plemons is the conspiracy theorist, and Emma Stone is the subject of his paranoia. The performances are top-notch, even by the astronomical standard Stone has set for herself, and the dialogue is a riveting back-and-forth—timely and terrifying. Bugonia is my personal favorite of this quasi-trilogy of films Lanthimos has created—it’s thought-provoking and so intelligently put together. And Fendrix’s score fits this mad dash concoction of style and tone perfectly, even more impressive now that we know he didn’t know anything about the plot before going in.
In our Awards Buzz interview, Fendrix discusses his intense research process, working with a 90-member orchestra, and jokes that he’s probably written the score for his fourth go-round with Lanthimos. For now, though, he’s taking a much-needed (and deserved) vacation.
