---
title: "Bugonia (2025) review"
description: "Bugonia proves that sometimes the scariest thing isn't the conspiracy - it's realizing the paranoid people might have a point."
url: https://www.joekarlsson.com/reviews/bugonia/
---

![A still from Bugonia (2025)](https://www.joekarlsson.com/images/reviews/bugonia/backdrop.webp)

# Bugonia (2025)

Nov 3, 2025 | 3 min read | Rated 4.5 out of 5 | Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

Bugonia proves that sometimes the scariest thing isn’t the conspiracy - it’s realizing the paranoid people might have a point.

This was a home run for me. It’s complicated and doesn’t offer easy answers, but it feels substantial and true to the moment we’re living in. The film shows the inherent hurt behind people who are attracted to conspiracy theories - that deep pain and alienation that makes simple explanations so seductive. But it also reveals the dangerous attractiveness of believing you can find one singular villain who can be taken down to solve all of society’s ills and all of your own personal pain.

What makes this so effective is how it exposes the massive gulf between our corporate overlords and us, while also showing the complete futility of trying to solve that problem in an isolated bubble. It’s clearly commenting on modern conspiracy culture and tapping into our collective rage at CEOs for how they’ve been squeezing us. The timing of releasing this in 2025 is either perfect or deeply uncomfortable - probably both.

This movie is an absolute tragedy, and I thought it was masterful how it made me constantly switch allegiances and question what was real throughout the entire film. In one moment I was sympathizing with Plemons’ character, then seeing him as a monster, then sympathizing with Stone’s character, then seeing her as a monster a moment later. This is a paranoid thriller with no heroes and many villains. Everyone is compromised. Everyone has blood on their hands. And that ambiguity is exactly the point.

I also loved the ending. It was my desired outcome going into it, and I loved watching it go completely off the rails.

This is a bleak film, but I think it stays true to the moment and works perfectly as part of a thematic triple feature alongside Eddington and One Battle After Another. All three are grappling with violence, systems, and the possibility (or impossibility) of meaningful change.

I’m loving Emma Stone’s turn in her 30s to playing horrible, prickly characters. She’s taking incredible risks with these performances, and I would genuinely contend she is the best actor of our generation. The choices she’s making - especially with Lanthimos - are bold and fascinating. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

I’m curious to see if this breaks out commercially like Lanthimos’ last couple movies with Poor Things and The Favourite. I’m not sure it will - the subject matter is darker and more challenging - but it is more palatable than something like Eddington, so maybe it has a shot.

I’m also so excited to see my favorite working character actor Jesse Plemons finally get a successful lead performance in a film, and he absolutely crushes it. He’s been doing incredible supporting work for years, and watching him carry a film this complex is thrilling.

This is essential viewing for understanding our current moment. It’s brutal, it’s brilliant, and it refuses to offer comfort. Exactly what we need.

Also on [Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/joekarlsson/film/bugonia/)

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Joe  
Karlsson

I write about my homelab, AI tools, databases, and the weird stuff I build on the side.

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