Fans of Yorgos Lanthimos got their first glimpse of Bugonia this week, as the official trailer for the highly anticipated film dropped online — offering a taste of the director’s latest darkly comic and off-kilter creation. Starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, Bugonia marks Lanthimos’ return to the screen following Kinds of Kindness and reunites him once again with Stone, who won an Academy Award for her role in Poor Things.

A remake of the 2003 South Korean cult classic Save the Green Planet, Bugonia follows two conspiracy-obsessed misfits who kidnap a corporate CEO, convinced she’s an alien bent on destroying Earth. Alongside Stone and Plemons, the cast includes Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone.

The film is written by Will Tracy (Succession, The Menu), with Lanthimos adapting the material in his own signature style. The score is composed by Jerskin Fendrix, who also created the haunting, operatic soundtrack for Poor Things.

American actor Jesse Plemons portrays Teddy, a conspiracist beekeeper.

In a 2024 interview with The Playlist, Lanthimos explained what drew him to the project:
“Well, actually just this one is one of the few times that I read a script that I hadn’t generated or I hadn’t been developing for a long time, and I was immediately drawn to it. And then I did a little bit of work with the writer Will Tracy in order to make it a little bit more my own. It’s just one of these things that something clicks in the story, in the tone. Again, something you probably haven’t done before, working with the same actors, like working with Emma again and Jesse, it’s just exciting to get into it, do something different, but also with that kind of familiarity.”

Filming began in July 2024 in High Wycombe, England, with longtime collaborator Robbie Ryan (twice Oscar-nominated for The Favourite and Poor Things) behind the camera. Shot on 35mm film using VistaVision cameras, Bugonia promises a distinctly stylized visual aesthetic.

Lanthimos had originally hoped to shoot the final scenes at the Acropolis in Athens, but the request was denied by Greece’s Central Archaeological Council — a decision that sparked public debate. Instead, the film’s final act was shot at the otherworldly Sarakiniko Beach on the island of Milos in May 2025.