Filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest feature Bugonia is set to release in Indian cinemas on October 31. Distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery through Universal Pictures India, the film explores the paranoia and delusion of the digital age.
Starring Academy Award winner Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and newcomer Aidan Delbis, Bugonia is described as an “explosive psychological thriller that opens a pitch-black comic window into our modern age of madness”.
The film follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap Michelle (Stone), a powerful CEO they believe to be an alien sent to destroy humanity. What begins as an act of fanatic delusion soon turns into a tense, unpredictable confrontation as captors and captive are forced to face uncomfortable truths.
Plemons plays Teddy, the ringleader driven by dark-web theories, while Delbis’ Don carries out increasingly bizarre orders — including shaving Michelle’s head and covering her in “anti-alien lotion” as part of their interrogation about a supposed doomsday plot involving bee extinction and a lunar eclipse.
“As a doomsday clock ticks down, Stone and Plemons deliver raw, unyielding performances in what feels like a cosmic showdown — not just for the fate of the world, but for the very fabric of reality itself,” the studio said in a statement.
“In the world that we live in now, people live in certain bubbles that have been enhanced by technology. Having certain ideas about people is reinforced depending on which bubble you live in, creating this big chasm between people. I wanted to challenge the viewer about the things that we're very certain about, the judgment calls that you make about certain kinds of people,” Lanthimos said.
“It's a very interesting reflection of our society and the conflict in our contemporary world,” he added.