Abhiroop Das
In Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Bugonia,’ two conspiracy enthusiasts, Teddy and Don, are driven by a puzzling conviction to abduct Michelle Fuller, CEO of the big-shot biomedical company, Auxolith. The duo, fully convinced that she is an extraterrestrial entity sent to Earth to eradicate all of humanity, refuses to let her go until she pays heed to their extraordinary demands. Thus, Michelle finds herself engulfed in a new reality, where all of her existing belief systems begin to rip apart. Adapted from a Korean movie titled ‘Save the Green Planet!’, this psychological dark comedy steadily blurs the line between truth and illusion, till all three characters are pushed past their physical and mental limit. Michelle’s professional background, as well as the secret exploits of her high-tech company, play a key role in the story, signaling that there is much more than meets the eye.
Michelle Fuller is a Fictional CEO Who Has to Face the Wrath of Two Conspiracy Theorists
Michelle Fuller is a fictional character constructed by Will Tracy and Jang Joon-hwan specifically for the narrative of ‘Bugonia.’ As the movie is an adaptation of Joon-hwan’s Korean classic, ‘Save the Green Planet!,’ the closest equivalent that Michelle has is the character of Kang Man-shik, who fills the mold of the pharmaceutical company big shot who is abducted under the suspicion of being an alien. Notably, the change from a male executive to a female CEO was intentional on the creators’ part and was explained as a response to the evolving zeitgeist that the film seeks to capture. As the film unfolds, Michelle sets herself apart as a distinct presence from her predecessor, who merely serves as the foundation to many of her wholly original characteristics. Originally, Tracy intended Michelle to be in her 50s, but that changed once actor Emma Stone got on board, bringing her own artistic flair to the project.
In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Stone opened up about her own interpretation of Michelle, particularly talking about how she is a reimagining of various corporate archetypes. She explained, “I found her so fascinating because she’s sort of glaze-y, everything’s lovely, and everything’s fine, but it’s all just an empty word salad-y exercise. It is always interesting to me to hear people who are the heads of these companies say, We need to say this specific set of things.” Tracy echoed that idea while talking to Business Insider, stating that Michelle being a young CEO is in sync with the trend of CEOs from tech and biomedical companies getting younger over time. While it is likely that the writing team of ‘Bugonia’ extensively researched real-life figures for their rendition of Michelle, she more so appears to be a composite of popular notions surrounding company leads, instead of any particular person.
Given that the premise of the movie is heavily centered around alien conspiracy theories, it is possible that real-life conspiratorial narratives were used as reference points. Specifically, the infamous reptilian conspiracy theories that grew popular in the 2000s and early 2010s draw a striking resemblance to the fringe theories that are alleged in the movie. The claims of shape-shifting reptilian aliens secretly controlling the entire world are at the heart of these conspiracies, much like the ones Teddy and Don believe in. However, with zero credible evidence being presented, these ideas exist firmly in the realm of speculation and fantasy. It is possible that the creators of the movie drew vague inspiration from these narratives and found an outlet in the form of Michelle’s character being interrogated by two conspiracy enthusiasts.
Auxolith Biomedical is an Invented Company Brought to Life by Viral Media Campaigns
Just as Michelle Fuller is a carefully crafted character, her company, Auxolith Biomedical, was also created from scratch by the writing team to contextualize the world of ‘Bugonia.’ Depicted as an advanced pharmaceutical company, Auxolith is responsible for the creation of several experimental drugs and treatment processes, which have borne mixed results over the course of the movie, drawing the ire of people like Teddy. While the company’s headquarters were filmed at Botanica Ditton Park, an office space located at 0 Riding Central Road, in Datchet, England, much of Auxolith’s fictional identity was developed through the use of clever campaigns and alternate reality games (ARGs). This culminated with the creation of a website under the banner of the human resistance group, taken straight from the film.
Although the contents of the website are fictional in nature, they are designed to give off an air of realism, with an active comment section taking part in the interactive exercise. The film’s crew went as far as to create and attach a LinkedIn page for Auxolith, complete with details of fictitious employees and product launches, adding to the immersion factor. Additionally, fake billboards of the company were put up in locations such as Los Angeles and New York, and then intentionally vandalized at numerous locations, effectively simulating the existence of an actual biomedical company that is under controversy. While Auxolith Biomedical does not have any direct real-life antecedents, it might have relied on real-life tech and pharmaceutical companies of a similar nature to source its basic characteristics. However, its core attributes continue to be fictitious in nature, primarily serving the larger plot and themes of the movie.
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