Bugonia Spoiler-free Review

by Morgan Morris and Cineman

Cineman was joined by our friend Morgan Morris to see a pre-release screening of Bugonia, the latest film by Greek auteur filmmaker, Yorgos Lanthimos. An English remake of the 2003 South Korean film, Save the Green Planet!, Bugonia is about two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.

MORGAN MORRIS

Goofy is as goofy does

It would be understandable if some moviegoers were to be suffering from Emma Stone/Yorgos Lanthimos fatigue, the pair teaming up for the fifth time (there was a 2022 short by the name of Bleat, which most of us likely missed) in the cryptically titled Bugonia. A reference, it seems, to a Greek myth regarding bees, whose much-reported demise looms large in the film.

And now Stone and Lanthimos have dragged the why-doesn’t-this-man-have-a-monument-in-his-honour-yet Jessie Plemons, whose protean range is put on full display here, into their orbit, he joining the pair for the second time following Kinds of Kindness. So if you like Lanthimos’ brand of absurdism, and two of the finest American actors of their generation, Bugonia – a remake of the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet! — will surely appeal.

It is Lanthimos/Stone’s most misanthropic, despairing joint venture yet, concerning the kidnapping of the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company (Stone in a G-Wagon) by a conspiracy loving beekeeper (Plemons) and his slow-witted but gentle cousin (one Aidan Delbis in what appears to be his debut). Said apiarist being convinced that the CEO is an alien, whose kind are messing around with human society. And he wants her to tell her people to stop.

It turns into a weirdly fun kidnapping, with origin stories and whim aplenty. And bursts of violence. Alicia Silverstone also gives new meaning to the phrase ‘high as a kite’.

So there’s, as always with a Lanthimos project, a lot to enjoy. But, just as reliably, a Lanthimos film prioritises intellect and absurdism above heart. So there’s little emotional connection to be made, disappointing giving some of the revelations about his characters. Maybe by his tenth collaboration with Stone – which, at this rate, should be by next year – and his new adoptee Plemons, Lanthimos will let us feel his stories as well.

Morgan’s Rating: 7/10

CINEMAN

After the icy detachment of Kinds of Kindness and the operatic whimsy of Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest, Bugonia, feels like a strange sort of homecoming; if that home was a weird rural dwelling, filled with bees and tinfoil hats. It’s more grounded than his recent work (mostly), and yet unmistakably Lanthimos: absurd, deeply funny, and quietly horrifying.

Where Poor Things was a sprawling world of creation and discovery, Bugonia thrives on confinement. The story’s core: a kidnapping that morphs into something far stranger, lets Lanthimos flex his tonal control, swinging effortlessly between dread and farce. One moment you’re laughing at the ludicrousness of it all, the next you’re clenching your jaw with unease. The film’s humour is a release valve, but one that hisses with menace.

Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone deliver absolute tour de force performances. Both off their rockers in very distinct ways, together they dance through Lanthimos’ meticulous world with unnerving chemistry; the kind that makes you question who’s really in control. The supporting cast, though small, fits neatly into this pressure cooker of a film, each character amplifying the absurd tension rather than breaking it.

Bugonia is lean, tense, and often shocking. Beneath its veneer lies a familiar Lanthimos preoccupation: power, delusion, and the frailty of belief. Despite the absurdity, it’s rendered in a way that’s surprisingly accessible.

RELATED: Watch our review of The Killing of a Sacred Deer

What’s fascinating about Lanthimos’ trajectory is how each film edges further into the bizarre, as though he’s emptying the vault of ideas that producers once told him to bury. From The Lobster to The Favourite, and now Bugonia, he’s clearly a filmmaker revelling in the creative freedom that success affords. With Poor Things’ Oscar glory and Emma Stone as both muse and producing partner, Lanthimos has entered his “nobody can stop me now” era and he’s making the most of it. The result is an artist unbound, gleefully chasing the surreal, the grotesque, and the ridiculous.

Of course, that means Bugonia won’t be for everyone. It’s weird. Deliberately, gloriously weird. But that’s the point. This English-language remake of the 2003 South Korean cult classic Save the Green Planet! walks a tightrope between sincerity and satire, science fiction and absurdist theatre. It’s bold, disorienting, and at times deeply moving. Whether you love or loathe it, you won’t forget it.

Ultimately, Bugonia is the work of a filmmaker who’s cashing in his creative chips to make exactly what he wants, and for audiences willing to follow him into the madness, it’s a trip well worth taking to the cinema.

Cineman’s Rating: 8/10

Overall Team Rating: 7.5/10

Bugonia releases in theatres on 31 October 2025.

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