Inside Bugonia’s Posters: Between Myth, Body, and Hallucination
With Bugonia, Vasilis Marmatakis deepens his long exploration of visual storytelling, creating a collection of posters that merge the realms of the body, myth, and hallucination. Known for his enduring collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos, Marmatakis has built his own visual language through symbols, distortions, and deliberate silences, always reflecting the mood of a film without revealing its plot.
Visual Worlds Beyond the Screen
Marmatakis does more than simply design posters; he constructs entire parallel worlds. His compositions translate cinematic atmosphere into sensory form, bridging art and film. Each image suggests a universe existing outside the frame, one that interacts with emotion rather than explanation.
The Myth Behind Bugonia
The title Bugonia refers to an ancient Greek myth in which bees are born from the carcass of an ox — a vision of death and renewal. Marmatakis reimagines this myth through organic textures, viscous surfaces, and elements that seem to breathe or decay.
Images of Transformation
The posters feature Emma Stone’s face immersed in a substance hovering between honey and blood. This unsettling imagery crystallizes the tension between nature and the human body, between innocence and corruption.
“It’s as if nature and humanity are attacking her,” said Marmatakis in an interview with It’s Nice That.
This single statement reflects his philosophy of visual storytelling: one that evokes sensation over literal narrative. To reach such images, the designer immerses himself fully in the filmmaking process — reading scripts in advance, visiting sets, and studying raw materials to translate them into visual emotion.
Summary
Marmatakis turns film poster design into a visceral dialogue between myth and body, crafting haunting images that embody both decay and rebirth.