Directors Ranked: Yorgos Lanthimos

[Snarf Zagyg]

Every now and then, when the planets are in alignment, I like to rank the movies of one of my favorite directors. Fincher. Lynch. Tarantino. The Andersons (not Mr. Anderson, but Paul Tomas and Wes). Cronenberg. Nolan. The KING OF THE WORLD. The Coen Brothers. King Kubrick.

Today, I take on one of my most difficult challenges. Partly because all of the films he has made are stone-cold classics. Partly because the films are very difficult to rank relative to each other. But mostly because it is insanely difficult for me to type his full name correctly on a regular basis- Yorgos Lanthimos. As such, and to adopt myself the saving grace of being autocorrected into Yogurt Lanyard, I will call him Yorgos like we are besties. Because we are, right Yorgos? WHY DON'T YOU RETURN MY TEXTS? I swear that you can have another muse- Emma Stone ain't all that.

Yorgos is a fascinating director. His films are visually distinctive, but without a signature quality (e.g., the "twee-ness" and planimetric composition of Wes Anderson or the austereness and one-point perspective of Kubrick). Instead, what is often notable about his films is that they operate by an internal logic that mirrors the rules and norms of our own world, while being slightly ... different or off, giving them a quality that will straddle the line from absurd to horror.

RULES- As always, there have to be rules. For Yorgos, the rules are simple. It has to be a feature length film (no shorts, no music videos), it has to be directed by Yorgos, and it has to be primarily in English. The third rule disqualifies his first four movies that are in Greek. If you like the other movies in this list, I recommend seeking them out (I am fond of Dogtooth).
Normally, I separate the movies into tiers. In this case, there is only one tier- YORGOS. All of the following movies are great and watchable and among my favorite all-time movies. But ... they are also not for everyone. It's exceptionally hard to know what movie to recommend people start with if you've never seen his films before, but The Favourite and Poor Things were widely popular.

YORGOS TIER

6. The Favourite
Come for the ornate period pieces and exquisite acting by Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone. Stay for the icy-black vivisection of social norms that hides behind the glittering exterior.

5. Kinds of Kindness
It truly pains me to put this film this low; it's actually a triptych of films combined together under the umbrella of an overarching theme. Without giving anything away, this is a modern version of Poor Things with cruelty dialed up to 11 ... so, more realistic?

4. Poor Things
If you don't like nudity in your films, this isn't for you. But if you don't mind it, this is ... weirdly, the most accessibly film in Yorgos's oeuvre. That said, the main reason I put it this high in this list is because it is (IMO) the only film where Yorgos truly prioritizes visual spectacle, and it shows.The entire movie is visual eye-candy for Emma Stone's acting performance, and all of it makes the message go down smoother ... like the flavoring of the medicine.

3. Bugonia
This is the hardest Yorgos film for me to rank. I ... don't like the ending. I can't explain why without going into details that would spoil the movie, but it could have been done better. And yet ... everything else in it is pitch perfect. It explores a lot of the themes Yorgos does in all his films, while simultaneously addressing some more ... modern issues (or should I say modern manifestations of the issues Yorgos is usually exploring). Finally, I just don't think I can forget the performance of Jesse Plemons.

2. Killing of the Sacred Deer
I used to think that Alien was the movie that would put me off eating spaghetti. Nope. It's this one. If someone ever says to you, "How come they don't make horror movies without the blood and guts," then ... well, you could point them right here.

1. The Lobster
Is this movie the perfect comedy? Yes. Is it the perfect rom-com? Yes. How do I know? Because 60% of the time, I'm right every time. Don't let the title put you off- this is a movie you will remember.

 

[jolt]

Interesting. I'm not familiar with any of these movies; I'll have to take a look.

 

[GreyLord]

3. Bugonia
This is the hardest Yorgos film for me to rank. I ... don't like the ending. I can't explain why without going into details that would spoil the movie, but it could have been done better. And yet ... everything else in it is pitch perfect. It explores a lot of the themes Yorgos does in all his films, while simultaneously addressing some more ... modern issues (or should I say modern manifestations of the issues Yorgos is usually exploring). Finally, I just don't think I can forget the performance of Jesse Plemons.

I think the ending is deliciously ironic, and yet, speaks in a very poetic way regarding our own self importance and solidifies the entire reason the initial characters had turned to the "conspiracies" in their lives in the first place.

I don't think the same idea could be gotten across (though, the name of the movie is rather on point if one considers the message in total) without the ending.

 

[Deset Gled]

I've only seen 3 of 6, so it's hard to do a full ranking. Sacred Deer, Poor Things, and Bugonia (in that order). But I can say I enjoyed all.

For me, a Lanthimos movie isn't just a movie, it's an experience. And that experience is summarized in three phases: 1. "WTF?" Starting the movie, weird unexplained stuff happens (but pay attention, it will be important later). 2. "Oh!" A major moment of realization where you identify what the underlying base story is, which is pointedly not the story that is happening on the surface. 3. "Ah!" Watching the rest of the movie with the understanding of the multiple layers of the movie, at which point all that weird unexplained stuff from Phase 1 falls into place (kinda).

So, saying all that, here's my rankings of what I've seen:

1. Poor Things. Loved it. Visually amazing; I loved the aesthetic. Very well done multilayered storyline. Great acting. A great take on a story that's been told many times before. I had my "Oh, that's the real story" moment somewhere around the beginning of the third act, which led to a very satisfying ending.

2. Bugonia. I had my "Oh, that's that real story" moment extremely early in this one, which gave away the ending practically in the introduction. But despite that - or maybe because of it - watching the rest of the story play out was very interesting. Great acting here as well. Overall, a very well done modern take on old school classic tropes. Probably the most "accessible" of Lanthimos movies that I've seen.

3. Killing of a Sacred Deer. My introduction to Lanthimos, and I could tell that it was a special kind of movie. Probably the best by any "classical" cinematic critical measurements. The mise en scene, lighting, etc, are all extremely tight and well done. Admittedly, the "Oh, that's the real story" moment in this one came from my spouse (who has a lot more experience withe the Classics than I do) about halfway through. Overall very good. But the things that make this one great are also the things that hold it back just a little. I believe I've mentioned before that there are movies that feel like homework assignments; the kind of movie you expect to watch in a film class, takes notes, and answer questions on. This wasn't a full on homework assignment, but there were times when it edged into that vibe. Also, I personally connected more with the horror roots in the movies above than this one.

All are definitely top tier movies. I'll watch more when they come up on any streaming subsciptions I have.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I think the ending is deliciously ironic, and yet, speaks in a very poetic way regarding our own self importance and solidifies the entire reason the initial characters had turned to the "conspiracies" in their lives in the first place.

I don't think the same idea could be gotten across (though, the name of the movie is rather on point if one considers the message in total) without the ending.

As you can tell by my terse descriptions of the movies (by my standards, insanely terse) I was trying not to go into detail. Especially because most of these movies benefit from going in fresh. Especially especially Bugonia.

But without being overly cryptic, I will explain further-
a. I love the movie. Obviously, I hope, since I ranked it #3 on a list of 6 movies that are all killer, no filler.
b. I think the fact of the ending (as in, how it ends in terms of plot) is absolutely right and I have no problems with that.
c. It's more that I had issues with certain filming choices at the very end, which briefly took me out of the meticulously constructed world. I can't really say more without giving it away, but it wasn't an issue of plot, it was an issue of portrayal. But it didn't make the movie bad- just something that I thought could have been done better.

Honestly, the hardest movie for me to rank was probably Kinds of Kindness. It's certainly not a crowd pleaser. But ... while all of these movies have spent an inordinate amount of time occupying my headspace ... for various reasons that movie has stuck with me. Every now and then, I'll be thinking of something else (hating bards, dead-eyed elves, etc.) ... and then scenes from the movie will pop up in my brain.

Usually scored to Nickelback. I guess that's how Yorgos reminds me of what I really am.

 

[aco175]

I think I'm a lot more simple than these movies. I watched The Lobster and kept thinking it was silly and I should turn it off. I stayed to the end and it still did not make any sense.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I think I'm a lot more simple than these movies. I watched The Lobster and kept thinking it was silly and I should turn it off. I stayed to the end and it still did not make any sense.

I don't think you're simple. Not all movies are for all people. That said ... well, maybe this will help.

What does science fiction traditionally do? I mean ... okay, lasers pew pew pew. But when we think of truly great science fiction, it is usually exploring a contemporary issue (or issues) but putting it into a different perspective- extrapolating it into the future, or abstracting the current issue into a similar issue (analogy!) that would be faced with different technologies or in a different time. Are you following me?

Yorgos is very much a science fiction director in that way, but less interested in the "science" part of it. Instead, he is usually adjusting the rules of social interaction to shed light on how we actually interact. He is making a point about the way we operate today by presenting a similar vision of humanity operating under different rules.

Once you grasp that, the movies may be interesting for you. So if you went back and looked at The Lobster, you'd think-

Spoiler: Light Spoilers for The Lobster

Imagine a world with strictly codified rules about "dating" and "partnering" and "what it means to become a couple." Accept the premise of these rules. Now, once you have accepted these premise, and observed how it impacts the characters and their subsequent actions and interactions, what does that have to say about our own world... specifically, dating, partnering, and "what it means to become a couple."