Bugonia (2025)

The following contains spoilers for Bugonia (2025). Proceed with caution!

In Bugonia, a conspiracy theorist and his cousin kidnap a wealthy tech CEO after they become convinced she’s an alien plotting to destroy humanity. Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest film, which was nominated for four Oscars including Best Picture, stars Emma Stone as Michelle, Jesse Plemons as Teddy Gatz, and Aidan Delbis as Don.

The central thrust of the movie is the negotiated relationships between Teddy and Michelle, Michelle and Don, and Don and Teddy. As the leader of the cousins, Teddy tells Don what to believe and how to act at all times. It’s clear that the two of them have been on their own for years and formed a codependent relationship to get by. Don, who is autistic, believes his cousin but has a different moral compass that adds tension to their relationship. Michelle is able to play off the two of them, relying on pathos to endear herself to Don and conspiracy-brain logic to seed doubt in Teddy’s brain.

The film seems like an extreme interpretation of the conspiracy theorists—like those of Q-Anon and MAGA generally—that exist in real life. And then, there’s the twist. What was Lanthimos trying to say by revealing that Michelle was an Andromedan alien all along? The end of the film forces us to question the entire narrative.

Of course, the most obvious point of the film is that it actually doesn’t matter whether or not conspiracy theorists are correct in some of their logic. Yes, Teddy was able to identify an Andromedan by looking at them and recreated a model of their spaceship, but he ultimately saw something different than himself and assumed bad intent. This assumption clouded his vision and made him unable to react logically.

It wasn’t his far-fetched ideas that clouded his judgement (and led to the destruction of the human race) but his hatred that caused his demise.

From the minute he decides to capture his first victim, there are only two options. Either Teddy is wrong and he’s killing innocent humans, or he is correct and he’s doing experiments on Andromedans that are capable of feeling pain. He is not giving them a fair trial or a chance to explain themselves. Even once Michelle tells the truth, Teddy refuses to let himself believe it. He’s committed horrific acts that are only justified if the Andromedans are evil. He’s in too deep to back out now.