Dark Comedy
Bugonia: Emma Stone’s Alien Turn in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Darkly Comic Conspiracy Thriller
Acclaimed filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, best known for Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness, returns with Bugonia— a macabre black comedy that toys with internet-fueled paranoia, ecological collapse, and corporate cruelty. The film, adapted from the 2003 South Korean cult classic Save the Green Planet!, stars Emma Stone as a ruthless corporate executive and Jesse Plemons as a conspiracy-obsessed beekeeper who believes she’s an alien.
A Conspiracy Gone Too Far
At the heart of Bugonia is Teddy (Jesse Plemons), a disturbed beekeeper grieving the collapse of honeybee populations and blaming a powerful pharmaceutical-retail conglomerate for ecological devastation. His rage is deeply personal — the company’s experimental drugs gravely harmed his mother (played by Alicia Silverstone).
Convinced that its icy CEO Michelle (Emma Stone) is not just corrupt but an extraterrestrial overlord, Teddy kidnaps her with the help of his naive cousin (Aidan Delbis). What follows is part grotesque torture comedy, part psychological standoff.
Michelle (Emma Stone), chained to a filthy bed, cycles through arrogance, diplomacy, and desperate humor — even mockingly admitting she’s an alien — in an unsettling game of survival.
Jesse Plemons in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia
Emma Stone’s Cold-Blooded Corporate Queen
Emma Stone delivers a chilling performance as Michelle, a perfectionist executive whose daily routine begins at 4:30 a.m. with workouts before she lectures employees about leaving work “early” at 5:30 p.m. Stone’s sharp, detached performance is both terrifying and darkly funny, reminding audiences of her willingness to push boundaries in her collaborations with Lanthimos.
Meanwhile, Jesse Plemons embodies the dangerous fanaticism of an online conspiracy theorist, grounding his paranoia with unnerving sincerity. His uneasy relationship with a local cop (Stavros Halkias) adds depth to a film otherwise steeped in violent slapstick and grotesque humor.
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A Film of Contrasts
Bugonia is strikingly shot and features an overwhelming orchestral score from Jerskin Fendrix. Yet, as critic Peter Bradshaw notes, the film often feels like an overextended setup for its emotionally powerful finale. Its satirical tone clashes with sudden pivots into tragedy, raising questions about whether the ending truly elevates what precedes it.
Compared to Yorgos Lanthimos’s previous works, Bugonia lacks the elegance of Kinds of Kindness and the audacity of Poor Things. Still, it’s a prickly and provocative entry in his filmography — a surreal commentary on conspiracy culture, environmental despair, and the absurdity of modern power structures.
