Bugonia (2025) – Brutal, Shocking, and One of the Wildest Rides of the Year
Starring Jesse Plemons as paranoid conspiracy nut Teddy and Emma Stone as the ice-cold pharmaceutical CEO Michelle, this black comedy-thriller starts as a kidnapping story and turns into something way deeper, darker, and more twisted. Let’s get into it.
The Plot: Two Losers, One CEO, Zero Sanity
Two conspiracy-obsessed guys—Teddys (Jesse Plemons) and his friend—kidnap Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the powerful CEO of a giant pharma company. Why? Because they’re 100 % convinced she’s an alien reptile queen here to destroy Earth. What follows is torture, screaming, crying, chemical castration (yeah, you read that right), and a slow spiral where you have no idea what’s real and what’s insane.
On the surface it’s simple. Underneath? It’s about corporate evil, class war, broken people, and how truth and delusion start to look exactly the same. The blur between “is she really an alien?” and “is he just completely broken?” never clears up—and that’s the genius of it.
What Completely Blew My Mind
- Jesse Plemons is terrifyingly good. You believe every second of Teddy’s paranoia. The chemical castration scene? The torture scenes? Man, it’s hard to watch, but you can’t look away from how real it feels.
- Emma Stone switches from terrified victim to total boss-bitch in the same breath—even while tied up. She’s incredible.
- The themes hit hard: big pharma destroying lives (Teddy’s mom died from their bad medicine), class difference (a low-level worker vs. a CEO who thinks she owns the planet), and how corporations treat human lives and the environment like trash for profit.
- That moment when you genuinely start questioning reality with them. Is Teddy crazy… or is he right? Lanthimos keeps you lost in that gray zone and it’s brilliant.
The Deeper Messages That Hit Me Hard
First big thing the movie screams at you: “pure corporate evil” is real and way scarier than any alien invasion. Michelle’s company literally kills people (including Teddy’s mom) with bad medicine just to make profit, and they don’t even blink. The environment, human lives, nothing matters if the numbers go up. Kidnapping a CEO who thinks she’s above the law feels almost… justified when you see what these companies do every day. It’s not subtle, but damn it lands.
My One Real Complaint
It’s brutally pessimistic about humanity. There’s a line in there basically saying humans are “intolerable, insignificant, and unnecessary.” That darkness can feel heavy and depressing when you walk out. If you’re in a bad mood already, this one might crush you.
Ratings and Critical Reception
- IMDb: 7.7/10 (43,000 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes: 87 % critics (282 reviews) / 84 % audience
- Box office: $33 million so far (on a $45–55 million budget)
- Premiered at Venice 2025, got love for the performances
Critics are eating it up, and most people who can handle the brutality seem to agree—this is peak Lanthimos weirdness done right.
A Brutal, Mind-Melting Must-Watch (If You Can Stomach It)
At 9/10, Bugonia is not for the faint of heart, but if you love dark, twisted, thought-provoking cinema that leaves you shaken—it’s one of the best of the year. Just know going in: some scenes are genuinely hard to watch.
It made me think about corporate greed, class gaps, mental illness, and how thin the line is between truth and total madness. Days later and I’m still not sure what actually happened.
What did you think of Bugonia? Did the torture scenes go too far, or was it perfect? Did you leave believing Teddy… or Michelle? Drop your thoughts below—I need to know I’m not the only one messed up by this!
And please suggest my next movie. After this I either need something super light and funny… or something even darker. Hit me.
If this review spoke to you (or warned you), like, follow, share. Thanks for coming along for the wild ride—see you in the next one!
