Why Bugonia is the best film of 2025

Yorgos Lanthimos returns to his peak with Bugonia, a modern masterpiece that once and for all consolidates his partnership with Emma Stone as one of the most powerful in cinema today. The film, which premieres on November 27th in Brazilian cinemas, is tense, unpredictable and absurdly current. It’s the kind of film that leaves you thinking for days after watching it.

With a keen eye for digital paranoia, Bugonia adapts the cult Save the Green Planet! (2003) and transports you to a world dominated by fake news and conspiracy theories. The protagonist, Teddy (Jesse Plemons), is a man obsessed with supposed hidden truths. He spends his days immersed in internet forums, videos and theories until he becomes convinced that a billionaire from the pharmaceutical industry – Michelle (Emma Stone) – is, in fact, an alien in disguise.

From there, Lanthimos conducts a kidnapping that quickly turns into something much bigger than a simple conspiratorial delusion. The director plays with the audience’s expectations, alternating moments of acid humor, psychological horror and social satire at a breakneck pace. It’s a film that bothers and entertains in equal measure, exactly the type of imbalance that made the filmmaker famous.

Emma Stone in Bugonia scene

(Photo: Disclosure/Universal Pictures)

The soundtrack, intense and almost suffocating, works as another character within the plot. At times, the excess is intentional: Lanthimos wants the viewer to feel the same mental pressure that corrodes his protagonists. This immersion, combined with precise direction and almost hypnotic photography, makes Bugonia one of the most complete cinematic experiences of the year.

Emma Stone shines again, in her most complex performance since Poor Creatures (2023). She delivers a nuanced performance, oscillating between coldness and vulnerability in a character who seems to hide something with every glance. The partnership with Lanthimos shows a rare harmony – and, once again, could earn her a nomination (or even victory) at the Oscars.

Jesse Plemons, in turn, reaffirms his talent as one of the most versatile actors today. His Teddy is at once pathetic, frightening, and tragic. It’s a perfect mirror of our age of misinformation and collective paranoia.

Bugonia is, above all, a sharp portrait of our time. It’s about the power of belief, the fear of the unknown and the ease with which the truth is distorted on screen. Lanthimos delivers here not only the best film of 2025 so far, but also a disturbing reminder of how fiction can reflect – and expose – our worst impulses.