Bugonia (2025)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
Two men kidnap a pharmaceutical CEO they believe is an alien conspiring to destroy Earth's ecosystem.
The story
Conspiracy theorist Teddy Gatz and his cousin Don abduct Michelle Fuller, the CEO of pharmaceutical conglomerate Auxolith. Teddy's mother, Sandy, previously participated in a clinical trial for an Auxolith drug that rendered her comatose. Teddy believes Michelle is a member of a malignant alien species, the Andromedans, who are killing Earth's honeybees and forcing humans into subservience. Teddy and a reluctant Don imprison Michelle in their basement, where they subject her to various measures to prevent her from signaling other Andromedans. They believe she has a limited window to negotiate with her people before a lunar eclipse allows their mothership to enter Earth's atmosphere.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Teddy Gatz and his cousin Don kidnap Michelle Fuller, the CEO of Auxolith, believing she is an Andromedan alien. They imprison her in a basement, where she is subjected to various indignities. During a tense dinner, they are interrupted by a local deputy, Casey, whom they manage to neutralize. Don eventually shoots himself after a promise from Michelle, and Teddy bludgeons Casey. After a series of escalating events, including the death of Teddy's mother, Michelle reveals a complex history of the Andromedans' attempts to guide humanity. They travel to her office, where she prepares to contact her people. Teddy, wearing a suicide vest, is killed in an explosion, and Michelle teleports to her ship. As the Andromedan emperor, she concludes that the human experiment has failed and activates a device that kills all humans on Earth, allowing nature to reclaim the planet.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 118
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; Ireland; South Korea; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Yorgos Lanthimos
- Writers
- Will Tracy · writer
- Cast and characters
- Emma Stone · Michelle Fuller; Jesse Plemons · Teddy Gatz; Aidan Delbis · Don; Stavros Halkias · Casey Boyd; Alicia Silverstone · Sandy Gatz
- Genres
- dark comedy; science fiction comedy
- Themes
- conspiracy theories; alien invasion; environmental issues; human extinction
- Tone and mood
- dark; grim
- Premise and plot tags
- remake; conspiracy; sci-fi
- Source material / true-story basis
- Save the Green Planet! (2003)
- Content notes
- torture
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews, particularly for the performances of Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 72 · scale: 100 · review count: 61
- Awards and nominations
- Screenwriter Award · Montclair Film Festival · 2025 · win
- Production trivia
- The title refers to a folk ritual involving a cow and bees.; It is Yorgos Lanthimos's most expensive film.; Approximately 95% of the film was shot in VistaVision.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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