Movie Gumshoes

Case File: "The Skin Job" - Bugonia (2025)


Listen Later

In this episode of Movie Gumshoes, Jonathan storms into the precinct with breaking news: the owner of The Skin Job—Tortilla Flats’ most questionable strip club—has allegedly landed on the Epstein list, and the FBI needs them to detain him. Jared, sensing immediate danger, complications, and probably glitter, decides they need a training refresher on how to apprehend a high-profile suspect without getting sued, shot, or slimed by alien goo.

Naturally, there’s only one cinematic case study that fits: Bugonia (2025), Yorgos Lanthimos’s dark, deranged black comedy remake of the Korean cult classic Save the Green Planet!.

Jared assembles a full case file:

  • The film’s two amateur abductors who are very sure their CEO target is a world-ending alien
  • Emma Stone as the possibly extraterrestrial tech mogul
  • Jesse Plemons absolutely committing to “kidnapping with conviction”
  • And a reminder that “proper suspect apprehension” and “Yorgos Lanthimos movie” rarely overlap

As they break down the film for tactical (and questionable) guidance, Jared and Jonathan attempt to extract real-world lessons on handling powerful people, reading red flags, and not accidentally starting a hostage crisis.

By the time they finish, one thing is clear: They are absolutely not ready to detain a strip-club owner under federal suspicion. But they’re going to try anyway… and hijinks are inevitable.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Movie GumshoesBy Movie Gumshoes