By Harrison Flowers
Bugonia is the best movie of 2025. It’s a story about tragedy, resilience, and aliens. It received four Academy Award nominations, including best picture and best actress for Emma Stone’s role as Michelle. Featuring Stone, Jesse Plemons, and Aidan Delbis, Bugonia does more than tell a story about a psychotic kidnapping. It explores themes of corporate ethics, echo chambers, trauma, and human civilization. The film is an English-language remake of the 2003 South Korean movie Save the Green Planet!. It is well-written and one of the most rewatchable films of the year.
“Bugonia is a dizzying, *****crazy story that ranks right up there with the filmmaker’s best films,” said film critic Pete Hammond.
Plot
Bugonia follows Teddy (Jesse Plemons), a local beekeeper, and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) as they kidnap Michelle (Emma Stone), the CEO of the major pharmaceutical company Auxolith. The pair believes Michelle is a secret member of the alien Andromedan species, determined to destroy mankind and the bees. To stop her, Teddy holds Michelle captive, demanding she contact her alien superiors and halt their operation on Earth.
“All we’ve lost. All that’s been done to us. We’re setting that right again,” Teddy declares before capturing Michelle.
Locked in Teddy’s basement, Michelle is questioned and tortured in an attempt to force her to reveal her alien identity. When Teddy “realizes” that Michelle isn’t just an Andromedan but the empress of the species, he escalates his plan, demanding she take him to her ship. Throughout her captivity, Michelle tries to convince the duo that she is human and to escape, but her efforts fail.
The story culminates with Teddy attempting to board the Andromedan ship through a teleporter in Michelle’s office at Auxolith. While enacting his plan, he accidentally kills himself with his makeshift explosives.
It is then revealed that Teddy was correct all along. Michelle is indeed the empress of the Andromedans, on Earth to experiment on humans to cure their depravity. Her experiments fail, and the film ends with the execution of all mankind.
Themes and Interpretation
The twist ending is mind-boggling. Throughout the film, the audience is led to believe that Teddy is a psychopathic killer manipulating his cousin Don, mentally deranged and influenced by online echo chambers. Bugonia initially appears to explore how mental illness and echo chambers can lead to tragic outcomes, but the revelation that Teddy was right flips the story on its head.
The movie becomes a meditation on humanity’s poor care of the environment, corporate malfeasance, and capitalism. Michelle is no longer a helpless victim but a cold, calculating villain. Her final act of executing humanity is both sobering and thematically appropriate.
“Look at the ending. There’s multiple reactions. It’s very hopeful or calming in some strange way, or it’s devastating and heartbreaking. And I think both are true,” said Stone. “Part of what’s interesting about this story is that you do see both of their perspectives at certain points, and then you disagree with them at other points.”
Even the film’s title is purposeful and thought-provoking. Viewers are left asking, “What is a Bugonia?” Screenwriter Will Tracy told The Independent that the ambiguity was intentional:
“I think we just liked the ambiguity of the title as well. It kinda sounds like an insect, kinda sounds like a flower, kinda sounds alien, but also sounds like a place, maybe, that could be on Earth,” Tracy said. “It might also sound like an illness. So the non-specificity was kind of attractive.”
The word “bugonia” literally means “ox birth” in ancient Greek, referring to the ritual of sacrificing a cow so that bees emerge from the carcass. This concept ties to the opening scene of bees pollinating flowers and Teddy’s mission to save them from colony collapse disorder, which he believes is caused by the Andromedans.
Performances
Stone’s performance as Michelle is remarkable. On first viewing, she convincingly appears human, a victim of Teddy’s psychosis. Her calm, controlled demeanor seems like the rational behavior of a CEO under duress. On a second viewing, however, Michelle’s true nature as an Andromedan emerges. Her actions, once puzzling, now appear calculating and alien. This is why Bugonia is so rewatchable: viewers can fully appreciate the nuance of Stone’s performance only after knowing the truth.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos explained the film’s message:
“This is a film about people who are trying to convince each other of their worldview. As each layer is revealed about the characters, who you believe in a given situation changes. You find yourself trying to figure out where you stand throughout the entire film,” Lanthimos said.
Teddy, shaped by poverty and trauma, acts emotionally, seeking to make change. Michelle, logical and methodical, experiments and solves problems rationally. The resulting clash of worldviews drives the power struggle between them—and even while chained, Michelle ultimately wins.
Conclusion
Bugonia gives audiences space to think and feel. Its expert storytelling, layered performances, and thought-provoking themes make it the best movie of 2025.
