‘Bugonia’ CIFF 2025 Review: Out of this World Filmmaking

Yorgos Lanthimos has once again teamed up with longtime collaborator, Emma Stone, for their third feature in two years, an American remake of the 2003 Korean film, Save the Green Planet. Read our full review for Bugonia below. 

This review was made possible thanks to a press screening at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.

Yorgos Lanthimos has steadfastly become one of my favorite directors working today, and every film I’ve seen of his has been one of the most fun and absurd experiences in our current cinematic landscape. Bugonia is no different, as I would argue it is among Yorgos’ best works, keeping his signature absurd style while injecting a much-needed amount of poignancy from Will Tracy’s hilarious script. 

Bugonia follows a young conspiracy theorist named Teddy (Jesse Plemons), who enlists the help of his cousin, Donnie (Aidan Delbis), to kidnap and torture a wealthy pharmaceutical executive (Emma Stone), believing her to be an Andromedan alien responsible for all the world’s problems. In typical Lanthimos fashion, this film balances the line between disturbing acts of violence and hilarious scenarios beautifully, as do the performances. Stone, especially, is ferocious throughout, with a more reserved approach in the first two acts; watching Emma go ballistic in act three was an absolute joy to witness. Plemons also rises to the occasion as we follow Teddy throughout the first two-thirds of the story, making audiences equally disturbed and understanding his madness compellingly. However, the heart of the film is Delbis’ Donnie, a naive and lonely man with a learning impairment, with no other family, he has no other choice but to go along with Teddy’s scheme. 

As always with Lanthimos’ works, longtime collaborator cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s use of traditional 35mm filmstock and VistaVision cameras creates some of the most stunning images you’ll see in a theater this year, giving each sequence so much texture and depth. There are some flashbacks in this featuring Alicia Silverstone that are genuinely jaw-dropping to look at. Especially in the scenes where Stone is captured, the stunning cinematography and production design work together so well that it’s like you can smell the stench of the basement and dirty mattress that this billionaire girlboss has been exiled to. Jerskin Fendrix’s gigantic score also adds so much energy to the constant shenanigans on display; its percussive nature and loud presentation beat audiences over the head with the sheer consequences Plemons and Delbis will be subjected to if caught.

All of these aspects come together to deliver a timely film that is without a doubt one of the most entertaining and thrilling experiences audiences will have in a theater this year. Lanthimos’ films just scratch an itch in my brain that few filmmakers do. I come to the movies to laugh, be entertained, and see some crazy stuff that only cinema can offer. In an era where billionaires control the world, it often feels like there are greater powers at be contributing to all the world’s issues, and this shows how those in vulnerable positions can be brainwashed by conspiracy theories more honestly than most films I’ve seen that tackle the concept.

Bugonia is a phenomenally demented and hilarious dive into the conspiracy-obsessed mind, while also hammering home that humanity is our own biggest enemy, yet we could be our only way forward through compassion and kindness. 

Bugonia was adapted by Will Tracy based on Save the Green Planet by Jang Joon-hwan. The film was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and stars Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone. Bugonia was released in select theaters on October 24 before expanding nationwide on October 31. 

Thanks for reading this Bugonia review. For more, stay tuned here at Feature First.