TL;DR: Bugonia is a dark satirical sci-fi black comedy by Yorgos Lanthimos about two conspiracy-obsessed beekeepers kidnapping a powerful CEO they believe is an alien plotting Earth’s destruction. Premiered at Venice 2025, it releases in U.S. theaters October 24 (limited) and October 31 (wide). The film critiques conspiracy culture, corporate greed, and environmental collapse with sharp humor and ambiguous morality.
Key Points
- Bugonia follows Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and cousin Donny (Aidan Delbis), conspiracy-driven beekeepers who kidnap Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), a CEO they suspect is an alien from Andromeda planning Earth's destruction.
- The film satirizes misinformation, elite suspicion, environmental issues like bee population collapse, and societal alienation, maintaining ambiguous morality and unresolved tension.
Cast & Crew
- Emma Stone as Michelle Fuller (the CEO / suspected alien)
- Jesse Plemons as Teddy (beekeeper)
- Aidan Delbis as Donny (his cousin)
- Alicia Silverstone as Teddy’s mother, Sandy (featured in flashbacks)
- Stavros Halkias in a supporting role
- Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
- Written by Will Tracy
- Produced by: Emma Stone, Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, among others.
- Filmed in England and Greece, Bugonia features stark production design contrasting captors’ chaotic world with the captive’s affluence, with a harsh score by Jerskin Fendrix and visuals shot in VistaVision 35mm.
- Premiered at Venice Film Festival (August 28, 2025), the film will have a limited US theatrical release on October 24, 2025, and a wide release October 31, 2025; rated R for violence, suicide, and language.
- Critics highlight the film’s intense dark comedy, psychological depth, sharp societal critique, and strong performances, especially by Stone and Plemons, but note it’s less shocking than Lanthimos’ earlier works.
- The story escalates from comedic interrogation to psychological horror, with themes of bias, truth versus lies, corporate conspiracy, and alienation, ending on a tense, ambiguous note.