Actress Emma Stone, winner of multiple Academy Awards, has once again collaborated with director Yorgos Lanthimos for their fourth movie together, Bugonia. The first trailer for the film was recently released, giving us an early glimpse at what looks like a bizarre, suspenseful, and darkly comedic story.
The film centers on a pair of conspiracy theorists who come to believe that a corporate power broker, played by Stone, is an alien bent on destroying the planet. Under the impression they need to take action to stop the impending extraterrestrial destruction, the two men kidnap Stone in order to shut it down. The trailer gives us a peek into their unusual plan and the wild world of the film.
Michelle, the head of a pharmaceutical company, is played by Stone, and the other bizarre mission will be her. Jesse Plemons plays the role of Teddy, a beekeeper, and one of the two men who abduct Michelle (Aidan Delbis being the other). As the strange unfolding story unravels, we viewers are left to wonder what is real and what is delusion in this quirky and tense tale.
Bugonia draws inspiration from the 2003 South Korean cult film Save the Green Planet!, which was also science fiction with dark humor and psychological cartwheels. The American version of Bugonia is infused with a similar tone to the original film, while changing its surroundings and characters to fit an audience.
Bugonia is Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos' newest collaboration. They have previously collaborated on The Favourite (2018), Poor Things (2023), and Kinds of Kindness (2024). Their previous collaborations have been nominated and awarded based on the audacity of craftsmanship, so it looks like Bugonia falls along the same route of conceiving ideas freely.
The screenplay is by Will Tracy, who is known for writing Succession and The Menu, which likely meaning the screenplay has smart dialogue and a biting satire. Also, it was produced by Ari Aster, who is the director behind Hereditary and Midsommar, which adds further psychological propulsion into the production.
Cinematographer Robbie Ryan, returning from Lanthimos's last few films, is working on this project. Bugonia was filmed in the UK, taking advantage of VistaVision (which has a "high resolution" format and rich quality). Bugonia was supposed to film these scenes at the Acropolis in Greece (which would be culturally impactful) but this was dropped on the production calendar.
Bugonia will see a limited theatrical release on October 24, 2025, before a wide release on October 31, aka Halloween, a popular time for movie-goers worldwide. Bugonia is also expected to premiere at the Venice Film Festival, a launch-pad for many of Lanthimos's films.
Bugonia has mixed sci-fi, suspense, and dark humor, and is already touted to be one of the most discussed films for the fall movie season.
Image Source: greekherald.com
