20 Recent Movie Twists That Fell Completely Flat

17. Bugonia - Yes, She Is An Alien After All

The ending to Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia - in which two conspiracy theorists hold a CEO hostage, believing she's an omnicidal alien - has polarized viewers, so its inclusion here might be divisive. Still, there's plenty to be said against it. 

First up, even if you haven't seen Save the Green Planet!, a South Korean black comedy which this movie remakes, this conclusion was foreseeable. Lanthimos is today's king of weird, so a few twists were to be expected and this bait-and-switch was an obvious choice for a narrative subversion. 

Secondly, and more importantly, it negates the film thematically. The rest of the story focused more on emotional and societal trauma, so the sudden shift into hard sci-fi was very jarring, and it also validated the insane ramblings of Jesse Plemons' conspiracy theorist. In today's age, when the internet and social media are full of morons spreading dangerous misinformation, this ending was as tone-deaf as it gets. 

For the record, Save the Green Planet! ended similarly and it didn't work seamlessly there either, but that movie always had more of a satirical sci-fi tone and that came out before the age of social media, so that earlier film - which is comfortably superior to Bugonia anyhow - just about got away with it. 

It's arguable that Bugonia should've gone for a different ending. It was a remake no-one asked for, so a bit of variety wouldn't have hurt.