After redefining the boundaries of arthouse cinema with films like The Favourite, Poor Things, and Kinds of Kindness, Yorgos Lanthimos returns behind the camera with Bugonia—a film already shaping up to be one of the most unsettling releases of 2025. Loosely based on the cult South Korean film Save the Green Planet!, this new project presents a bold fusion of paranoid satireand grotesque sci-fi. The story follows two impressionable young men—one played by Jesse Plemons—who kidnap Michelle Fuller (portrayed by Emma Stone), a powerful corporate executive. Convinced she is an alien sent to Earth to wipe out humanity, their delusion sets the stage for a twisted psychological descent.
“Not much of the dystopia in this film is very fictional… A lot of it is very reflective of the real world.”
At the heart of this surreal new vision lies the now-iconic creative partnership between Lanthimos and Stone, with the actress once again stepping into a complex and provocative role. Written by Will Tracy (best known for Succession and The Menu), the screenplay offers a sharp exploration of mass hysteria, the blurred line between insight and delusion, and how irrational beliefs—no matter how absurd—can give rise to entire alternate realities. Set against a backdrop of disinformation and blind faith in conspiracies, the film delivers a disturbing yet timely reflection on contemporary culture.
“I read Will Tracy’s script and immediately fell in love with it. It was funny and entertaining but also made you think deeply about many things. I felt it was very relevant to its time when I first read it, three years ago—and unfortunately, I believe it is even more relevant today.”
Visually, Bugonia leans into a claustrophobic, dreamlike aesthetic: stark contrasts between light and shadow, a fractured editing style echoing Kubrickian rhythms, and a 4:3 aspect ratio that intensifies the psychological pressure. All of it is underscored by a deliberately jarring soundtrack, including Green Day’s “Basket Case”, which mirrors the protagonists’ unraveling mental states. Alongside Stone and Plemons, the cast includes Aidan Delbis as the second abductor, Stavros Halkias, and a standout performance by Alicia Silverstone as a manipulative journalist with a hidden agenda deep within the world of conspiracy media. Each character—deliberately exaggerated—contributes to the film’s unstable sense ofreality, keeping the viewer in a constant state of uncertainty.
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