A Brief History
On October 24, 2025, American black comedy thriller film Bugonia was released in theaters in the United States by Focus Features.
Digging Deeper
Starring the two time Oscar and two time Golden Globe winning actress, Emma Stone, this black comedy dives deep into the conspiracy theory world of one apparently delusional man (played by Jesse Plemons) assisted by his somewhat pathetic autistic cousin in a seemingly idiotic plot to kidnap a big pharma CEO believed by the conspiracy addled men to be an alien with evil intentions.
With their suspected alien abductee firmly in their grasp, the cousins badger the beleaguered woman in an attempt to get her to admit she is an alien bent on destroying the Earth’s honey bee population. The audience is drawn into their apparent mental illness while becoming inevitably sympathetic to the kidnapped CEO. Torture of the suspected alien only adds to the tension, including some palpable tension between the conspiracy ringleader and his not quite convinced cousin.
Without providing spoilers, suffice to say the film holds the attention of the audience and creates that level of empathy within the audience to make the movie goer feel deeply invested in the characters. Garnering a commendable 88% score from Rotten Tomatoes, the film was not a hit at the box office, failing to break even on its roughly $50 million budget. Still, we found the movie captivating and strongly recommend it to fans of horror/thriller movies and connoisseurs of conspiracy theories. Young children may be directed to pass on this film that includes violence and torture.
Oddly enough, Bugonia is a rework of a South Korean film, Americanized for the Western audience. We liked the movie and enthusiastically recommend it to our readers and movie fans.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Did you enjoy this film?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see the film’s official website.
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