Focus Features has released the official full-length trailer for Bugonia, the highly anticipated new psychological thriller from visionary director Yorgos Lanthimos. The trailer offers a thrilling and bizarre first look at the film, plunging viewers into a darkly comic and claustrophobic world where paranoid conspiracy and unsettling reality violently collide.
The trailer opens on two cousins, played by Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis, as they methodically chain a captured Emma Stone, who portrays a ruthless pharmaceutical CEO, in their dingy basement lair. What follows is a series of bizarre interrogation rituals, as the pair attempt to extract information about a supposed alien plot to trigger a mass bee extinction and a lunar eclipse–fueled apocalypse. We see them shave Stone’s head and smear her with what they call an “anti-alien” lotion. Through each frantic close-up and unhinged accusation, Lanthimos masterfully balances absurdity and genuine menace, creating a pitch-black comic window into our modern age of madness.
Bugonia sees Lanthimos once again teaming up with screenwriter Will Tracy. The film is an adaptation of the acclaimed 2003 Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet, reimagining its unique blend of dark humor and emotional intensity for a contemporary Anglo-American context. In a press release, Lanthimos explains that the film challenges viewers to question their own judgments and biases.
Adding to the film’s unique feel, it was shot on rare VistaVision film. This format, which uses a larger negative than standard 35mm, is known for delivering a striking, larger-than-life look that will undoubtedly complement the film’s heightened and surreal narrative.
Bugonia is scheduled to have special premiere screenings beginning on October 24, 2025, before rolling out widely in theaters just in time for Halloween on October 31, 2025.
