Poor Things director  Yorgos Lanthimos reteams with star Emma Stone on Bugonia, a timely new update of Jang Joon-Hwan’s Save the Green Planet. The sardonic, genre-bending satire takes aim at modern echo chambers and their erosion of humanity. Lanthimos’ signature ability to skew reality with absurdist humor and style belies a cynical condemnation of our self-destructive nature. That makes for a unique remake that’s both faithful and wildly different from its source material, one that’s unafraid to get even bleaker with its paranoia.

Bugonia introduces the conspiracy-spouting apiarist Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his impressionable, neurodivergent cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) as they prepare for the kidnapping of Big Pharma CEO Michelle Fuller (Stone), an out-of-touch type that Teddy insists is really an alien masquerading as a human in a plot to destroy humankind. The pair nearly botch their capturing of Michelle, but make quick work of shaving her hair and covering her in thick antihistamine cream to prevent her from communicating with her species after chaining her to their basement floor. Teddy timed her kidnapping so that, if successful, Michelle would take them to her leader when the mothership arrives during the lunar eclipse, setting in motion an intense interrogation and battle of wits.

Emma Stone stars as Michelle in director Yorgos Lanthimos’ BUGONIA, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Atsushi Nishijima/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved.

Lanthimos, working from a script by Will Tracy (The Menu), immediately creates a stark contrast between Teddy and Michelle. It’s not just in the character introductions, which intercut Michelle’s luxurious get-ready morning routine with the perpetually greasy Teddy’s strategy roundup with his sweet cousin, or in the production design, which underscores the glaring class divide in their respective homes. It’s also in the way that Lanthimos frames his two leads; the camera tends to look up at Stone with reverence and high angles while looking down at the more humbled Teddy. This subtle camerawork sets the paranoid back-and-forth off on the right footing, with Teddy and Michelle both vying for power and control of this increasingly out-of-control scenario.

While Lanthimos never shies away from employing humor at every opportunity, Bugonia eventually settles into a tense showdown of haves versus have-nots, with Teddy’s demeanor exposing cracks that his alien conspiracies actually mask a personal grudge behind his kidnapping scheme. Michelle remains resolute that she’s human but also maintains a calculating coolness, constantly seeking cracks in Teddy or Don’s plans. Conversely, that only stokes the flames of Teddy’s underlying anger, threatening to explode in violence. 

(L to R) Aidan Delbis as Don and Jesse Plemons as Teddy in director Yorgos Lanthimos’ BUGONIA, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Atsushi Nishijima/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved.

That makes Bugonia a much less showy effort from Lanthimos, with the filmmaker opting to keep focus on the ferocious psychological war being waged between its leads over genre stylings. It makes those moments, when they do arrive, hit that much harder. An abstract vision of Teddy’s troubled mom (Alicia Silverstone) and bursts of shocking violence leave a lasting impression to heartbreaking affect; Lanthimos isn’t taking any prisoners with his bleak overview.

Allegiances ebb and flow in an ever-shifting battle of wills centered around two stubborn characters, both steadfast in their self-righteousness and ideologies. The more they refuse to budge, the more Lanthimos sharpens his satirical edge until it builds toward a darkly comedic but pessimistic conclusion. That the filmmaker opts for ambiguity to play up the paranoia means that his latest plays it coy with the genre elements until it shows its grim hand. It makes for a searing remake that goes beyond crowd-pleasing “eat the rich” narratives for a more cynical prognosis about humanity’s future. 

Bugonia screened at Fantastic Fest and releases in limited theaters on October 24 before expanding wide on October 31, 2025.

4 out of 5 skulls