Telluride Film Festival Review: ‘Bugonia’ Has Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone Wildly Dueling for Yorgos Lanthimos

There is something very special going on between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone. Not only do they bring out the best in each other, something Lanthimos has also done with Colin Farrell in the past, they also seem to be challenging each other to go in new and exciting directions. Now, with Bugonia, we can add Jesse Plemons to that as well. Surely one of the wildest titles at the Telluride Film Festival this year, it’s challenging and extreme at times, but also still massively entertaining. For all its madness, I loved it.

Bugonia is absolutely insane, yet also for much of the runtime easily Lanthimos’ most grounded work in some time. When things get wild, they really get wild, but nearly two thirds of this film is a verbal duel between Plemons and Stone. The movie is not shying away from political overtones, though it also allows you to put your own view of the world on to the characters and their worldviews. In that way, there’s more humanity and anger on display from Lanthimos, centered on an intimate and largely contained story.

An english language adaptation of Save the Green Planet!, the action is transported to America and gender swaps the CEO at the center of things. Michelle (Stone) is a high-powered CEO with money, power, and respect. On the other end of the spectrum is Teddy (Plemons), a lowly employee at her giant company. He lives in a run down home with his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis), thoroughly planning something. Teddy constantly tells Don about how important their mission is, to the point that on the eve of executing it, they chemically castrate themselves. The mission? Save the human race. How? By kidnapping Michelle. Why? Well, because Teddy is convinced that she’s an alien in disguise.

Sure that she’s in disguise and part of a plan to destroy Earth, Teddy wants Michelle to literally have her take them to her leader. She’s calm and collected, though absolutely baffled by what’s occurring. Teddy has told Don all about the plan, though he’s simpler and not quite as convinced. Still, he goes along with it when Teddy orders him to shave her head, since the hair is used to contact the mothership. As her abduction becomes news, a battle of wills begins between Michelle and Teddy. Debates over the peril the planet is in, the state of humanity, and who’s to blame for it all ensues. That’s all just the set up, too, as things boil over as an eclipse approaches. To say any more would be to spoil the darkly comedic yet often disturbing fun.

Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone have rarely been better. In fact, this is Plemons’ best work, though Stone is only not at that level due to the masterclass that was Poor Things. Plemons gives his conspiracy nut a soul, even if it’s a wildly misguided one. There’s a familiarity to him that’s meant to be disturbing, and it is. His cruelty, as well as his humanity, pair nicely with the wild eyes Plemons gives to Teddy. As for Stone, she makes Michelle cool as a cucumber at almost all times, so when she makes the CEO on high alert, we perk up as well. It’s spectacular work from them both. Aidan Delbis makes an impression as sad-sad Don, putting forth interesting choices at all points. The small cast also includes brief roles for Stavros Halkias and Alicia Silverstone, though Plemons and Stone are the rockstars at its core.

Director Yorgos Lanthimos and writer Will Tracy are doing their version of an Ari Aster flick (he’s a producer here, so it’s not an accident), with incredibly successful results. Their adaptation is not too far afield from the original film, though it’s clearly filtered through Lanthimos’ unique lens. Working again with cinematographer Robbie Ryan and composer Jerskin Fendrix, there’s a familiarity to the style, though it looks and sounds completely new. The politics on display, as well as the humanity, give this the feel of Lanthimos experimenting. Armed with Plemons and Stone, he’s able to, along with Aster and Tracy, prove that a remake can still be wholly original.

Bugonia delighted me in its insanity. There’s a message by the end, one that we should pay heed to, but even taken as just twisted entertainment, it’s still top notch. This film is one of the best at Telluride this year, as well as one of my favorites overall in 2025 so far. Even if some Lanthimos works are superior, it’s just a testament to how he may well be one of our absolute best directors right now. You won’t forget what you see here, that’s for sure.

SCORE: ★★★1/2