Yorgos Lanthimos returns to the big screen with Bugonia, a chilling and darkly satirical story that begins as a kidnapping and unfolds into a philosophical reflection on truth, power, and society’s growing obsession with conspiracy theories.

Two young men — Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) — are convinced that Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the CEO of a powerful pharmaceutical company, is not human but an alien entity threatening Earth. Determined to “save” the world, they kidnap her, plunging themselves into an absurd ritual of fear, control, and self-destruction.

As Michelle fights for survival through calm manipulation and psychological resilience, her captors descend into their own mental fractures. Lanthimos, with his signature blend of icy irony, striking visual style, and black humor, probes the fragile boundaries between logic and belief — and the darkness that lurks beneath human civility.

Bugonia is a remake of the 2003 cult Korean film by Jang Joon-hwan, produced by Ari Aster (Midsommar, Hereditary) and written by Will Tracy (The Menu). Cinematographer Robbie Ryan brings the story to life on 35mm and VistaVision film, while Jerskin Fendrix’s haunting score — composed solely from four keywords provided by Lanthimos — amplifies the film’s atmosphere of disorientation and paranoia.

Filming took place in the UK and the United States, with the final scenes shot on the island of Milos, after Greek authorities denied permission for the Acropolis.

With an outstanding Emma Stone in yet another daring collaboration with Lanthimos, Bugonia unfolds as an allegory about how our fears and conspiracies “give birth” to new monsters — much like, according to Aristotle, bees were once believed to emerge from a dead body.

In cinemas from November 6: Premier Cinemas The Mall of Nicosia & Pantheon Nicosia, Premier Cinemas Limassol

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