---
title: "Bugonia"
year: 2025
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/bugonia"
fi1m_id: "bugonia"
imdb_id: "tt12300742"
tmdb_id: 701387
wikidata_id: "Q125971387"
fi1m_score: 72
critics_score: 76
critics_reviews: 17
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:48.540968+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Bugonia (2025)

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos · 1h 59m · MPA R · Science Fiction, Thriller, Comedy

## Identity

Bugonia

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/bugonia
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** bugonia
- **IMDb ID:** tt12300742
- **TMDB ID:** 701387
- **Wikidata ID:** Q125971387
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12300742/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/701387, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125971387

**Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 76 from 17 reviews

*In a sentence:* Two men in a cellar are certain the woman in chains is an alien; she is certain it can be renegotiated

> Lanthimos locks Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons in a cellar for two hours, and the result is tense, cruel and often funny. It also knows exactly what it thinks about the people upstairs and the people down there, and it tells us more than once.

## Synopsis

Michelle (Emma Stone) runs a pharmaceutical company. Teddy (Jesse Plemons) reads a great deal online and has concluded that she is an alien sent to finish off the planet. With his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) he kidnaps her and chains her in his cellar to wait for a lunar eclipse, when he believes her people can be reached. Michelle, once she has taken in the situation, begins to negotiate. A local police officer, Casey (Stavros Halkias), calls round. Yorgos Lanthimos directs, from a script by Will Tracy, with Robbie Ryan behind the camera. Alicia Silverstone appears as Sandy.

## Review

Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) abduct Michelle (Emma Stone), the chief executive of a pharmaceutical company, and chain her up in Teddy’s cellar. Teddy is certain she is an alien sent to finish off the planet, and means to hold her until a lunar eclipse, when he believes her people can be reached. Michelle is certain he is a man with a grievance and a price. Yorgos Lanthimos directs, from a script by Will Tracy, with Stone in front of his camera once more. For most of its 119 minutes it is an argument in a cellar, and as that it is as tense and as funny as anything Lanthimos has made. When it climbs the stairs to tell us what the argument meant, it is less good.

Plemons is the reason to see it. Teddy has read everything and understood all of it in the same wrong direction, and Plemons plays him as a patient man rather than a raving one, explaining the invasion to his captive the way a teacher explains long division. He is never louder than he needs to be. Stone’s Michelle, once the cellar door shuts, treats the kidnapping as a meeting that has started badly: she asks what he needs and tries to find the number. We winced at how fast she does it, before the shock has had any right to wear off. That speed is the joke of the performance and the horror of it at the same time. Delbis makes Don the only person in the house who notices that someone is in pain.

Robbie Ryan, who shot *The Favourite* and [*Poor Things*](https://film.one/film/poor-things), gives the cellar the same wide, deep frames he gives Michelle’s glass offices, so that both look like enclosures. James Price’s production design makes the office pale wood and silence, and the farmhouse peeling paint and things kept in case. Jennifer Johnson puts Michelle in a tailored suit and then in a grey sweatsuit, and much of the comedy comes from her behaving in the second as though she still wore the first. Jerskin Fendrix’s score arrives in bursts of drums and brass. Once or twice that is thrilling; more often it is telling us something the actors have already told us.

That is the film’s habit. Will Tracy, who co-wrote *The Menu*, gives each side a language. Teddy’s is the internet’s: trials, cover-ups, what they don’t want you to know. Michelle’s is the company’s: boundaries, wellness, hearing people out. Both are funny the first time, and both are repeated until we could guess the next phrase. A visit from a local police officer, Casey (Stavros Halkias), is the loosest and best comic scene in the film, because nobody in it is making a speech. Alicia Silverstone’s Sandy has a few minutes on screen and exists to explain Teddy.

Then the last third takes a turn we will not describe. Many of the reviews so far single it out as the best part of the film, and it is the boldest. Yorgos Mavropsaridis, who has edited Lanthimos’s films since *Dogtooth*, closes on a long run of images without dialogue that startled us and then moved us. It also felt like the director stepping in front of his actors to deliver the moral himself, and after two hours of Plemons and Stone doing that job so well, we minded.

This is angrier than *Poor Things* and plainer about what it wants to say than [*Kinds of Kindness*](https://film.one/film/kinds-of-kindness). People who liked the early films, where nobody explained anything, may find it eager to be understood. People who like Stone and Plemons will find two of the better performances either has given.

See it, and take someone who will argue with you about the ending in the car park. The cellar scenes will survive a sofa; the last ten minutes want a screen large enough that you cannot look away.

*Fi1m score 72, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics agree on where the strength lies: Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, whose confrontation almost every review names as the reason to watch. Praise for Stone’s control of tone comes up repeatedly, with the Evening Standard noting she plays a kidnapped chief executive who negotiates as if closing a deal. The satire on conspiracy thinking, class and misinformation is generally judged sharp, and a good number find the final third the point at which the film earns its keep.

The reservations cluster around tone and proportion. The Guardian faults the length and finds the serious pivot not fully earned; The AV Club argues the remake fails to update its source with much social commentary; Eye for Film finds it grimmer than it is funny. Several call it a lesser Lanthimos rather than a bad one. The spread is fairly narrow, with no outright dismissals and only a handful of mixed notices.

## Straight answers

**Is Bugonia worth watching?**

*Bugonia* is worth watching for anyone who can sit through two hours of two men and a chained woman arguing in a cellar, and we scored it 72. Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone give two of the better performances either has managed, and the film is tense and often funny. It also explains itself more than it needs to, and the last third will start arguments.

**How long is Bugonia, and what is it rated?**

*Bugonia* runs 1h 59m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a science fiction and thriller film.

**Where can I watch Bugonia in the US?**

*Bugonia* is streaming on Netflix in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Bugonia, and is it suitable for children?**

*Bugonia* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not for children: a woman is kidnapped, chained in a cellar and kept there for most of two hours, and the film is tense and cruel throughout. Much of the discomfort comes from what is said rather than shown, and it is often funny, but the squeamish should know that someone is in pain for nearly all of it.

**How does Bugonia compare to Funny Games?**

*Bugonia* is the funnier and more talkative of the two, while [*Funny Games*](https://film.one/film/funny-games) is the crueller and offers nobody any comfort. Haneke's home invasion is quiet and merciless and keeps its victims painfully human; Lanthimos lets his captive negotiate, and much of the film is comedy about how quickly she does it. Choose *Funny Games* for dread, *Bugonia* for the performances, and expect both to lecture you.

**What should I watch after Bugonia?**

After *Bugonia*, try [*Funny Games*](https://film.one/film/funny-games) (1997, Fi1m 74): Haneke’s home invasion, polite and merciless, and it offers nobody any comfort. Then [*The Lobster*](https://film.one/film/the-lobster) (2015, Fi1m 78): Lanthimos at his driest, with rules nobody explains and Colin Farrell obeying them; and [*Misery*](https://film.one/film/misery) (1990, Fi1m 83): One captor, one captive, one bedroom, and Kathy Bates deciding the rules.

### Reviews we read (27)

- **Empire**, John Nugent (85/100, inferred): The review describes Bugonia as riveting, unhinged and sardonic, another Lanthimos-Stone winner with bigger ideas at play. It notes the gripping, misanthropically funny tone and the fertile creative partnership. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/bugonia/)
- **The Independent**, Clarisse Loughrey (85/100, inferred): The critic finds Bugonia one of the best recent films at capturing the present moment and calls it Lanthimos’s darkest and most timely work. She singles out Emma Stone’s performance for its control over tone amid the absurd and topical satire. [Read](https://independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/bugonia-review-emma-stone-b2855344.html)
- **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (3/4/4): The critic calls Bugonia an absolute blast that defies remake odds with stylish, sardonic take on the source material. Stone and Plemons deliver compelling performances in this sardonic sci-fi caper. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/bugonia)
- **Radio Times** (4/5): The critic praises the madcap corporate satire-cum-sci-fi as pleasingly off-kilter and satisfying for Lanthimos fans, with a real punch in the final third. It probes corporate takeover of the planet through grotesque comic shocks. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/bugonia-review-emma-stone-jesse-plemons/)
- **The i Paper**, Francesca Steele (80/100, inferred): The critic calls the film entertaining and a return to form, highlighting its compassion amid despair for the world. She singles out the tremendous double-act of Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/bugonia-more-wacko-poor-things-emma-stone-tremendous-4008633)
- **Vulture** (75/100, inferred): The critic notes that the film enters the real world more than Lanthimos' usual work, making it perhaps his saddest, with strong showcases for the stars and a resonant exploration of power and humiliation. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/bugonia-review-yorgos-lanthimos-enters-the-real-world.html)
- **Evening Standard**, India Block (70/100, inferred): The review notes the film is low on laughs until a blood-spattered final act that delivers catharsis and pure cinema. It praises Emma Stone as mesmerising in a character who negotiates her kidnapping like a business deal. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/bugonia-review-emma-stone-yorgos-lanthimos-b1252286.html)
- **The AV Club**, Natalia Keogan (C+): The critic argues that the film squanders opportunities to meaningfully update the source for contemporary issues, lacking social commentary or character depth despite Plemons' strong performance. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/bugonia-review)
- **The Guardian** (60/100, inferred): The critic finds the film macabre and amusing with strong turns from Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, plus a striking score and powerful finale montage, but faults its excessive length, heavy-handed approach and failure to fully earn its serious pivot. It lacks the ingenuity of Lanthimos’s prior works like Kinds of Kindness or Poor Things. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/28/bugonia-review-emma-stone-might-be-an-alien-in-yorgos-lanthimoss-macabre-conspiracy-theory-comedy)
- **Time Out**, Sophie Monks Kaufman (3/5): The critic notes bravura performances by Stone and Plemons elevate the high-concept exploitation movie but finds it a mixed bag overall. Production design shines in the recognisable modern setting. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/bugonia-review-2025)
- **IndieWire**, Ryan Lattanzio: The review examines the remake's hostage thriller setup in the age of vigilantes and big pharma, highlighting the central confrontation between Plemons and Stone. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/bugonia-review-emma-stone-yorgos-lanthimos-1235147826/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Amy Nicholson: The critic calls it a hilarious movie with no hope for the future of humanity, praising Stone's mesmerizing performance as the resourceful CEO who shines even in starkness. It singles out the class-divide contrasts and the absurd tragedy of the conspiracy theorists for attention. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-10-23/bugonia-review-emma-stone-jesse-plemons-alicia-silverstone-yorgos-lanthimos)
- **Screen Daily**: The critic hails a gloriously gonzo, sharply satirical chamber piece with terrific turns from Stone and Plemons that is hilarious, grotesque and direct. The wickedly leftfield denouement delivers a serious message in entertaining Lanthimos style. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/bugonia-review-emma-stone-and-jesse-plemons-are-dynamite-in-explosive-yorgos-lanthimos-thriller/5208306.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The critic finds Lanthimos masters bleak conspiracy satire through strong performances by Stone and Plemons, but notes overkill in plot points, score and a predictable ending. Philosophical pessimism sustains the film as a class-warfare parable. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bugonia-yorgos-lanthimos-masters-bleakest-side-conspiracy-satire)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: The critic finds it an enjoyably odd genre hybrid with strong performances from Stone and Plemons, though not Lanthimos' best work, praising the visuals and subversive elements. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/bugonia-review-emma-stone-jesse-plemons-yorgos-lanthimos-1236355544/)
- **The New Yorker**, Justin Chang: The critic calls it an intoxicating, visually lush specimen offering an uncommonly pleasurable descent into hell, with richly saturated colors and a bravura showdown between Stone and Plemons. It singles out the subversive production design and the bracing nastiness of the dialogue for praise. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/11/03/bugonia-movie-review)
- **The New York Times**, Alissa Wilkinson: The critic finds the film mostly sad rather than weird or funny, with naturalistic dialogue that feels like a demented Spielberg riff. It singles out the strong lead performances of Stone and Plemons for praise while noting the protagonist's internet-fueled conspiracy spiral. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/movies/bugonia-review.html)
- **The Skinny**, Stefania Sarrubba (★★★★★): The critic calls it a savage and bold satire on civilization's descent into madness, lauding the lead performances, visual beauty, and its meditation on humanity and nature, with a disquieting yet tender finale that makes for an impactful and entertaining experience. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/bugonia)
- **The Playlist**, Marshall Shaffer (A-): A damning yet affectionate look at a broken society through conspiracy and cynicism, masterfully controlled with committed performances, ending on a note of affection for humanity's folly. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/bugonia-review-yorgos-lanthimos-paranoid-thriller-starring-emma-stone-movie-built-for-our-times-venice-20250828/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a dizzying, batsh*t-crazy return to form that ranks with Lanthimos’s best. He singles out the bravura performances by Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons for particular praise. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/08/bugonia-review-jesse-plemons-kidnaps-emma-stone-venice-fest-1236498564/)
- **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (8/10): The critic calls Bugonia a fantastic remake that elevates its source material with richer ideas about inequality and modern frustrations. Stone and Plemons deliver two performances of the year in a tense, bizarre three-hander that shows Lanthimos exercising unusual restraint. [Read](https://collider.com/bugonia-movie-review-emma-stone-jesse-plemons-yorgos-lanthimos/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Linda Marric (4/5): The critic finds it a fascinating but not perfect absurdist satire on belief and paranoia, praising the performances of Stone and Plemons and the ending's payoff while noting some self-satisfied weirdness. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/bugonia-lff-2025-review/)
- **The Wrap** (65/100, inferred): The critic finds the film twisted and entertaining but not quite as satisfying as Lanthimos’s strongest prior works. He singles out the central mano-a-mano between Stone and Plemons as the highlight. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/bugonia-review-emma-stone-jesse-plemons-yorgos-lanthimos/)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (55/100, inferred): An uneven blackly comic tale where grim outweighs grinning in this remake, with strong performances but predictability in Lanthimos' style; praises energy and visuals but notes imbalance. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/bugonia-2025-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (4 out of 5): The critic highlights Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons' strong performances in this dark satire on conspiracy theories and class divides, noting Stone's textured and empathetic CEO portrayal alongside the film's bleak humor and visual style, though it ultimately feels nihilistic and more intriguing than fully triumphant. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/bugonia-review-emma-stone-transforms-sci-fi/)
- **/Film**, Chris Evangelista (7 out of 10): It's a memorable but lesser work from Lanthimos and Stone, elevated by strong performances especially Plemons, with sick twists and a morbid ending, but scattered and sometimes too mean. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1996638/bugonia-movie-review/)
- **NME**, Victoria Luxford (4): The review praises the biting satire on internet culture and misinformation, with Stone and Plemons delivering compelling performances that ground the absurd premise and prompt reflection on contemporary society, deeming it another strong collaboration between the director and star. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/bugonia-review-emma-stone-jesse-plemons-yorgos-lanthimos-3899598)

## Details

- **Director:** Yorgos Lanthimos
- **Director:** Yorgos Lanthimos
- **Screenplay:** Will Tracy
- **Cinematography:** Robbie Ryan
- **Editor:** Yorgos Mavropsaridis
- **Music:** Jerskin Fendrix
- **Production design:** James Price
- **Costume design:** Jennifer Johnson
- **Producer:** Andrew Lowe, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos
- **Cast:** Emma Stone as Michelle; Jesse Plemons as Teddy; Aidan Delbis as Don; Stavros Halkias as Casey; Alicia Silverstone as Sandy; J. Carmen Galindez Barrera as Ricky / Security Guard; Marc T. Lewis as Tony; Vanessa Eng as Corey
- **Runtime:** 1h 59m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 31 October 2025
- **Genres:** Science Fiction, Thriller, Comedy
- **Also in:** [Best Picture winners](https://film.one/collections/oscar-best-picture.md) (Nominee, 2025); [Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-comedy.md) (Nominee, 2025)
- **Budget:** $55 million
- **Box office:** $44 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBigr-JHB0

## Where to watch in the US

- Netflix: streaming
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Funny Games* (1997), Fi1m 74: Haneke’s home invasion, polite and merciless, and it offers nobody any comfort. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/funny-games.md)
- *The Lobster* (2015), Fi1m 78: Lanthimos at his driest, with rules nobody explains and Colin Farrell obeying them. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lobster.md)
- *Misery* (1990), Fi1m 83: One captor, one captive, one bedroom, and Kathy Bates deciding the rules. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/misery.md)
- *Sorry to Bother You* (2018), Fi1m 81: Corporate satire that goes somewhere even stranger than a cellar, and means it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/sorry-to-bother-you.md)
- *Under the Skin* (2013), Fi1m 81: Scarlett Johansson as the visitor, and Glasgow as the planet worth saving. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/under-the-skin.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/bugonia