There's something unsettling about the way Yorgos Lanthimos films a field. In Beth's Farm, the new music video for Jerskin Fendrix's folksy yet off-kilter ballad, the Greek auteur frames Emma Stone in wide, static shots—her presence both serene and vaguely ominous. The grass sways, the barn looms, and the lyrics whisper: “This world is quiet, and this soul is calm… And nobody dies on Beth's farm.”
Of course, with Lanthimos, that last line feels less like a promise and more like foreshadowing.
A Reunion of Creative Forces
Fresh off his Academy Award nomination for Poor Things, composer Jerskin Fendrix returns as Lanthimos' sonic collaborator, this time stepping into the spotlight with Beth's Farm, a single from his upcoming album Once Upon A Time… In Shropshire. The video, directed by Lanthimos and starring Stone, serves as a curious interlude between their recent work (Kinds of Kindness) and their next collaboration, Bugonia, set to premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival before a theatrical release this fall.
Lanthimos describes the project as “a bit of film narrative” woven into Fendrix's album—a “love letter to something that once existed.” True to form, the video is spare, eerie, and loaded with subtext. Stone, clad in rustic attire, moves through the farm with a detached grace, her expressions flickering between contentment and something more inscrutable. The visuals evoke The Lobster's deadpan absurdity and Dogtooth's controlled surrealism, reinforcing Lanthimos' knack for making the mundane feel uncanny.
Fendrix's Haunting Soundscapes
Fendrix's score for Poor Things was a cacophony of whimsy and dread, and Beth's Farm carries a similar duality—its pastoral melody undercut by dissonant strings and whispered lyrics. The track, like much of his work, feels both nostalgic and deeply uneasy, as if recalling a childhood memory that might not have been entirely pleasant.
The collaboration between Lanthimos, Stone, and Fendrix has become one of cinema's most compelling creative trios. With Bugonia on the horizon—another darkly comedic fable starring Stone—this music video acts as a tantalizing amuse-bouche, hinting at the director's continued fascination with isolation, ritual, and the grotesque.
Final Thoughts
Beth's Farm won't explain Bugonia, but it doesn't need to. Like the best of Lanthimos' work, it lingers—a vignette that's as much about atmosphere as narrative. For fans of his films, it's a welcome dose of his signature style; for newcomers, it's a fitting introduction to a filmmaker who finds unease in the everyday.
Watch the video below, and mark your calendars for Bugonia's Venice premiere this September.
