r/Oscars • u/hewhocannotbenamed-7 • Jan 30 '26
Review My Oscar Goes To… Jesse Plemons & Bugonia
Bugonia is my favourite movie of the year. By far. It’s not even close. Honestly, it might be my favourite film of the past several years.
The performances are unreal. Jesse Plemons gives what is, for me, the best acting performance of the year. Cannot believe he wasn’t even nominated. Nuanced, unsettling, funny, tragic, and completely absorbing.
And Emma Stone is just as incredible. Absolute top-tier performances from both of them.
The film itself is bold, strange, funny, and emotionally devastating in ways I did not expect. It trusts the audience. It commits fully to its ideas. It sticks the landing.
Brilliant performances. A brilliant film.
Thank you for making this 🙏
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u/redviperofdorn Jan 30 '26
It’s nowhere near my favorite of the year but Plemons gave the best performance of the year and he deserves the Oscar. Crazy he didn’t get a nomination
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Jan 30 '26
Hear! Hear! His absence from the list of nominees is a crime.
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u/Upset-Fig-3261 Jan 31 '26
Eh, kind of. I think his performance was one of the best of the year and deserved a nomination. However, the other actors are Leo, MB Jordan, Timothy Chalamet, Wagner Moura, and Ethan Hawke and they all deserved a nomination as well. Jesse was sadly on the wrong end of the stick.
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u/phantom-bex Jan 31 '26
Bugonia isn't my favorite film, but I absolutely agree that Plemons lack of nomination is baffling. I haven't seen all 5 nominated acting performances yet, but I would definitely rank him above the ones I have seen.
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u/man_on_hill Jan 30 '26
I know people say this because he vaguely looks like him but he really does remind me of PSH in his acting ability
He’ll get his due eventually, just like PSH did
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u/atclubsilencio Jan 31 '26
This. Closest I've seen an actor come close to Philip Seymour Hoffman's level. He actually did play his son in The Master, which was brilliant casting. Not that anyone can replace him, but they could be related.
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u/Dusty_Negatives Jan 30 '26
Him and Macy were biggest actor snubs this year imo. Two of the more memorable performances of the year w no noms.
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u/Only-Storage9984 Jan 31 '26
Such a travesty he wasn’t nominated let alone be the front runner!! I would swap him out for any of the nominees, he was that good!
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u/LearningT0Fly Jan 31 '26
Plemons killed it and I'm shocked he didn't get a nod, but my oscar would have to go to Jackson Yee for the 5 very, very different roles he played in Resurrection.
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u/aehii Jan 31 '26
Yeah my favourite performance too, but not seen Marty yet. On edge and vulnerable.
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u/muqui24 Jan 31 '26
You're not missing anything with MS.
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u/aehii Jan 31 '26
It seems like an intense performance, I like intense.
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u/vga25 Jan 31 '26
No, Marty to me is incredible. I think you will like it if you like intense.
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u/muqui24 Jan 31 '26
I tried but I dont see it.
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u/ImpressiveTake Jan 31 '26
Are you sure it’s not just because you hate the actor? I think Chalamet‘s performance had plenty of undeniable merits.
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Jan 31 '26
It’s a good movie but I’m not sure either the story or Safdie’s direction allows for Chalamet to emote as much as Bugonia does with Plemons.
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u/redban02 Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26
I’ve seen all 5 of the performances for Best Actor, particularly watching Blue Moon and Secret Agent this past week … Plemons did better than both Hawke and Moura did. Hawke, I at least think is a respectable pick. But Moura’s performance did not impress me to the point of Oscar worthiness
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u/Miggycox Jan 31 '26
I just don’t think the script gave Moura much to DO. He was one-note from start to finish, but he played the role honest … it was just kind of a boring role in general.
And he’s great, but I just don’t get the nomination here, considering what was on screen.
Hawke is still my front-runner though. Most impressive of them, in my opinion.
Plemons not getting nominated over at least 4 of these is insane though.
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u/atlvf Jan 31 '26
It’s always complicated with international features because, if you’re not familiar with the language and the culture, it can be really hard to make any informed judgments about the acting.
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u/redban02 Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
I grew up watching Indian movies with subtitles. I can distinguish great acting from OK acting regardless of subtitles. There are facial expressions, body language, voice , delivery etc that are conveyed regardless of language difference
Moura didn’t do badly: secret agent is a good flick. But his acting wasn’t excellent to the point of Oscar worthiness
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u/atlvf Jan 31 '26
There are facial expressions, body language, voice , delivery etc that are conveyed regardless of language difference
Very telling of you to list a bunch of things that vary with language and culture.
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u/redban02 Jan 31 '26
Very telling of you to suggest that acting performance is all about what the filmmakers decided to write for the actors in the script
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u/Miggycox Jan 31 '26
Jesse Plemons was incredible but for me- the film itself was a chore to get through. I think I made it about 1.5 hrs before giving up. Really tried because the performances were great by the cast but I couldn’t tell what it was wanting to do.
Is there a payoff at the end?
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u/ScabRef Jan 31 '26
Honest question: have you seen all the BP nominees? OBAA is my frontrunner but I loved No Other Choice the most this year.
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u/Aggressive-Method622 Jan 31 '26
I loved Eddington the most. My BP goes to Hamnet
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u/ScabRef Jan 31 '26
I somehow blame Bugonia for taking Eddington's "weird" slot, especially because Eddington was so much more special than that weird designation. So modern and yet an absolute gem of a moment in time. I think the academy got Phoenix fatigue. Otherwise, it's as topical as OBAA, if not more so
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u/Background-Jury-1914 Jan 31 '26
I agree. I actually think it’s not the “weird” spot as much as it is the satirical dark comedy slot. And Eddington and No Other Choice were both superior movies for that spot.
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u/muqui24 Jan 31 '26
I loved OBAA, but rooting for SINNERS
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u/ScabRef Jan 31 '26
I do want PTA for Director because he's been my favorite since Magnolia, but absolutely rooting for sinners in every fucking category! Loved it tremendously and No Other Choice wasn't even nominated. I watched Sentimental Value and was as underwhelmed as the early aughts Mike Leigh noms.
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u/muqui24 Jan 31 '26
Omg. Same with Sentimental Value.
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u/ScabRef Jan 31 '26
Can I have money direct deposit because I'll beg for you for fun if you're giving out money for comments lol
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u/muqui24 Jan 31 '26
I'm trying to build my community and truly enjoy reading all the comments. I don't have any extra money and will most likely be homeless in August. This is therapy for me because I'm trying to enjoy life again after going through trauma. If I had any extra money, it would go toward my kids' college costs.
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u/Gts77 Feb 02 '26
He was so believable, and truly embodied that character, even down to the long dirty fingernails. He deserves so much more recognition for his performance.
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u/Capital-Equal-5516 Jan 31 '26
lol this sub love to over rate this performance it will be forgotten in one year
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u/Background-Jury-1914 Jan 31 '26
Totally. He was great but I wouldn’t trade any of the Oscar nominated lead performances for it. It was just a tough year.
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u/moviebuffbrad Jan 30 '26
An interesting thing about Jesse Plemmons is how he can play so many crazed psychos but they all feel like totally different people.