This deliberate pacing is one of Lanthimos’ greatest strengths, creating an atmosphere of suspense and unpredictability. His films, known for their darkly comic and often unsettling narratives, keep audiences guessing with unexpected twists and intimate storytelling. This unpredictability is achieved through his direction, the nuanced performances he elicits from actors, and his skillful scene construction, making his films a captivating experience.

His latest project, “Bugonia,” is a prime example of this approach. The film, a darkly comedic thriller with science fiction elements, revolves around three central characters and unfolds predominantly in a single location. Despite its confined setting, it brims with frenetic energy and challenges viewers with its unpredictable nature. It’s a testament to Lanthimos’ genius, delivering yet another film that defies expectations.

“Bugonia” is set in an isolated house where beekeeper Teddy (played by Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) concoct a sinister plan. Teddy believes that the decline of bee populations and pharmaceutical-induced human ailments are part of an alien conspiracy. He’s convinced that the only solution is to gain an audience with the alien Emperor.

This psychological duel forms the core of “Bugonia,” and the film benefits from the seasoned talents of Stone and Plemons, both familiar faces in Lanthimos’ repertoire. Unlike his more expansive works like “Poor Things” and “Kinds of Kindness,” “Bugonia” focuses on a more intimate setting. Most of the action transpires within Teddy’s home, particularly in the basement, creating an atmosphere akin to a theatrical play. The scenes of tension, revelation, and emotional intensity demand a high level of trust between the director and his cast, and it’s evident that Lanthimos and his stars share this bond. “Bugonia” is unafraid to delve into the messy complexities of human emotion, with Stone and Plemons delivering powerful performances that resonate within Lanthimos’ artfully crafted narrative.

To make this happen, Teddy and Don hatch a plan to kidnap Michelle (Emma Stone), the high-powered CEO of a local drug company, believing that she’s not only an alien, but one capable of getting them in to see the alien leadership. Michelle, shorn of all her hair and chained to a cot in Teddy’s basement, is naturally horrified by her ordeal, and works to convince Teddy that he’s made a huge mistake. In Teddy’s mind of course, the more she protests, the more Michelle confirms she actually is an alien with a secret agenda to control the fate of humanity. But the more the captive and captor talk, the more the film makes us question who’s manipulating who.

This duel between the seemingly delusional kidnapper and his seemingly panicked captive makes up the backbone of “Bugonia,” and it certainly works in the film’s favor that Stone and Plemons are now experienced actors in Yorgos Lanthimos’ stock company of favorites. Here, unlike recent successes like “Poor Things” and “Kinds of Kindness,” the scope is dialed down. Much of the vital action takes place in Teddy’s house, and much of that takes place in Teddy’s basement, where a sequence of events so tightly coiled they could be a stage play unfold. To pull off what goes on down there — from awkward moments to shocking revelations to outright human cruelty and manipulation — you need a certain degree of trust, and it’s clear that the director and his stars have that. “Bugonia” is never afraid to get messy, not in terms of violence so much as in terms of emotional cacophony, and Stone and Plemons both deliver exceptional performances within Lanthimos’ carefully constructed framework.

“Bugonia,” written by Will Tracy, is a remake of a South Korean film titled “Save The Green Planet!” — and yet it often feels like the most American movie Yorgos Lanthimos has made so far because of the sheer force of paranoia and conspiratorial thinking looming over the whole piece. Teddy is frightening in his determination, in his complete faith in the belief system he’s concocted, but he’s also a guy carrying tremendous pain and distrust of a corporate machine. At the same time, Michelle is a member of said corporate machine, but she’s also a person capable of fear and panic and flailing for any advantage in what could be a fatal game. It’s not hard to see modern America, or even modern Capitalism, reflected in this struggle, and “Bugonia” becomes a film not just about captor and captive, but about two survivors simply trying to make it to the other side of whatever this strange situation actually is.

The feelings it evokes are specific to this American moment, yet Lanthimos also makes them feel universal, and he’s helped along by a truly epic, startling score by Jerskin Fendrix. As the film drives forward, and Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone push themselves into deepening levels of intensity, we are forced to confront our own feelings of alienation, loss, and despair in the world, and wonder what we’d do about them if brought to our limits. Aren’t we all aliens in our own way, and doesn’t that speak to a certain unity rather than division? That may be true, but our capacity for violence, for cruelty, also makes that unity a constant project, a battle that we’ll never win but can perhaps keep fighting to try if we can survive long enough. These thoughts swirl through “Bugonia,” pollinating and fertilizing it like Teddy’s bees, enriching every moment with a sense of melancholic meaning. The patience of Yorgos Lanthimos allows for all of this, and makes “Bugonia” one of his best films — a tense, funny, jaw-dropping descent into absurdity that’ll stay in your brain for days.

“Bugonia” lands in theaters on October 24.