Humanity Under the Microscope: Yorgos Lanthimos’ "Bugonia" Stings and Soars

[the following review is spoiler free]

When it comes to the current state of the film world, few voices are as unique and visionary as Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos. Ever since his 2009 feature, Dogtooth, he has remained one of the most exciting filmmakers in Hollywood, with each project being more daring than the last. Lanthimos has been on quite the streak as of late, making a new feature every year since 2023. The latest being Bugonia, which has screened at a whopping 34 film festivals around the globe since its Venice premiere in September and is already drumming up significant Oscar buzz before it even hits theaters. But is this highly stylized, star-studded feature worth all the early acclaim?

Bugonia, is a remake of the 2003 Korean sci-fi film Save the Green Planet! by Jang Joon-hwan. It follows the story of high-profile CEO, Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) after she is kidnapped by a group of beekeeping conspiracy theorists (Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis), who are convinced that she is an alien sent to Earth to destroy the planet. Mainly a product of Focus Features, the movie was also produced by horror icons, Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen of Square Peg in addition to Stone's own production company, Fruit Tree Enterprises.

Ever since 2018's The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos has made three additional feature films, all led by Emma Stone. Those being, Bugonia, Kinds of Kindness, and Poor Things, for which she earned her second Academy Award. Their latest collaboration had Stone shave her head bald for the role of Michelle Fuller.

I've seen a lot of movies. 1,071 this year to be exact, with 262 being 2025 releases and Bugonia was my most anticipated watch of this year. I've wanted to see this film since before it even had a poster. If you asked me at the start of this year that I. could only see one 2025 release, it would've been this one. Needless to say, expectations were high. I've been blown away by virtually all of Yorgos Lanthimos' previous work, but I wasn't the biggest fan of his last feature Kinds of Kindness. So for me, Bugonia was a test to see whether Lanthimos was going to continue in a direction I didn't like or return to form. I'm happy to say it ended up being the latter.

Bugonia is a daring, thought-provoking, and at times batshit crazy film about a plethora of human issues. Environmentalism, online echo chambers, income inequality, medical exploitation, the truth, this movie has it all; holding a mirror up to the faces of its audience members. The ending is already proving to be extremely polarizing, and is sure to make or break the film for some viewers, I'll leave that for you to decide for yourself.

 Yorgos Lanthimos and writer, Will Tracy have a real talent for toying with their audience. Every single time I thought this movie was about to end or wind down, I was met with a twist or turn I never saw coming. There's an impressive balance of downtime and shocking moments that only make the latter more effective. Audible gasps were heard on multiple occasions at my early Los Angeles screening, and for good reason. At no point in this film could I have guessed how the scene would end, or what the next scene would be.

Who would've thought that the former Editor in Chief of The Onion, Will Tracy, would write one of the most provocative films of the year? Who would've thought that Jules from Superbad would eventually be the face of auteur cinema? Bugonia is easily Emma Stone's most physically demanding role to date, and it's clear she was extremely dedicated to bringing this film to life. It's refreshing to see such a glamorous, decorated actress not be afraid to get truly messy and completely throw herself into a role. The same can be said for co-lead, Jesse Plemons, who also seems to be turning into a frequent Lanthimos collaborator after his role in Kinds of Kindness won him the Best Actor award at Cannes last year. Stone and Plemons have such incredible on-screen chemistry in this film it's clear how much they respect each other and love collaborating.

Will Tracy's comedy background strangely comes in handy in this film. Something I definitely wasn't expecting was for Bugonia to be as funny as it is. There aren't any explicit jokes but a few specific line deliveries and mannerisms from Stone that had my audience absolutely roaring on more than one occasion.

So yes, the writing is great and the acting is incredible, but where Bugonia shines is in the way it looks. Director of Photography, Robbie Ryan puts together one of the most visually impressive films of the year, and I do not say that lightly. In terms of sheer optics, this film can hold its own with 2025's best including Sinners, Twinless, and The Plague. I am not usually someone who takes particular notice of lighting, but I was practically forced to admire the work of Bugonia's team. I simply couldn't write a complete review without discussing just how staggeringly beautiful and dynamic this film looks. Even the moments that are meant to evoke disgust I couldn't help but think: wow, that's a great shot. In a way this entire review is dedicated to the work of visual staff: Nathan Porter, Johnny Franklin, John Malaney, Kenneth Pratt, David McLean, Malachi Roberts, and Stathis Tsiapas. Please, for the love of God never stop making movies.

My one singular gripe with Bugonia unfortunately lies in its ending, which I cannot discuss without heavily spoiling the film, so I will merely save that for another date. In the meantime, whether you are a seasoned cinephile or just a casual moviegoer, you need to see Bugonia.