he bees are dying. Someone or something, surely controlled by planet-dominating corporations, is to blame. And recreational apiarist Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons), joined by his developmentally-disabled cousin Donny (Aidan Delbis), is certain that he’s found the answer: aliens from Andromeda have plotted against Earth, overtaking, usurping, and conquering its inhabitants, plaguing them with chemicals and manipulating the masses into ignorance. And the 45-year-old CEO of Fortune 500 company Auxolith, Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) – who has an excellent and expensive skincare routine so as to appear far more youthful – is one of these invading creatures, who will supposedly have contact with its mothership and the race’s emperor in a handful of days as a lunar eclipse approaches.

Right from the start, director Yorgos Lanthimos sets up an opportunity for audiences to pass judgment on the lead roles, depicting Teddy and Donny as dirty, disheveled, and wearing bedraggled clothing (or perhaps tinfoil hats in offscreen moments), living in relative poverty on the outskirts of town, friendless and isolated. Meanwhile, Michelle is glowing, adorned in designer outfits, living in luxury and taking care of her health and appearance – as only ample funds can afford. It’s the everyman versus the elite, or the poor versus the wealthy, or the hopeless versus the powerful; the pathetic, pitiable Teddy really ought to be sympathetic when matched against the disconnected, privileged appearance of his nemesis. And yet, when he plots – and then executes – a kidnapping of Michelle, subjecting her to a head-shaving, an antihistamine-slathering, and a shackling to a bed in his basement, it’s evident that he’s not exactly a morally upright persona.

“You’ve gotta believe me.” “Bugonia” (titled after a Greek ritual, not the flowering plant) sets up its satire quickly and heavily; like in the recent “Don’t Look Up” and “Mickey 17,” the parodic elements are blatant. Every role is representative of enormous swathes of people as the film examines – and sends up – what it takes to make oneself feel in control, the excessive influences of tech companies, the devastation of Mother Nature by pesticides and pollution, mental health issues and healthcare deficiencies, corporations that poison the citizenry (and get away with it), propaganda and feedback loops, tightly-held beliefs and how to hijack them, the impossibility of effective communication in a fractured world, activism gone awry, social media cesspools, and more. Is it all but definite that the ultra-rich are akin to aliens in their detachment from the woes of the common person? Do they behave like extraterrestrial invaders, snatching up resources and depriving communities from basic needs? It’s undoubtedly not a stretch for the story to present that viewpoint, nor is it unbelievable that someone like Teddy, whose motives are steadily revealed in flashbacks full of lingering traumas, would resort to severe measures for justice against perceived evildoers. And if he’s justified in his reasoning, are his more heinous actions genuinely villainous?

“I don’t get the news from the news.” While affluence offers options, destitution offers only desperation – and with it, anger at the impotence of being unable to gain rectification or revenge. And so, like a version of “They Live” gone off the deep end with graphic violence and perverted humor (the kind that struggles to be funny amid the weirdness and continual tension of an erratic lunatic torturing his captive), this remake of the 2003 Korean picture “Save the Green Planet” showcases obvious truths, strong performances, and stomach-churning imagery. But it’s the kind of genre-blending thriller, peppered with uncomfortable laughs as it may be (writer Will Tracy previously did “The Menu,” a likeminded skewering of norms), that is more interesting in its commentary on modern society than it is regularly entertaining. After all, there aren’t really good guys and bad guys here; everyone is beclouded with disagreeable traits (and compelling absences of alarm bells for dangerous situations), as if mere tools for this scathing chastisement of the ugliness of current politics and technocratic encroachments. At least the cautionary-tale components are admirably chaotic in the humorously outrageous finale, adorned with creative grisliness and a disarmingly enchanting song by Marlene Dietrich.

– Mike Massie