Emma Stone Shines in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Alien Kidnap Drama Bugonia at Venice Film Festival
Emma Stone captivated audiences at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival with the premiere of Bugonia, a gripping kidnap drama directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos.
The film, which marks Stone’s fourth collaboration with Lanthimos after The Favourite, Kinds of Kindness, and Poor Things, blends suspense, dark comedy, and social commentary into one of the festival’s most talked-about entries.
Stone stars as Michelle Fuller, a powerful pharmaceutical CEO abducted by Teddy (Jesse Plemons), a troubled young man who blames her company for his mother’s declining health and environmental damage, particularly the collapse of bee populations. Along with his reluctant cousin Don (Aidan Delbis), Teddy imprisons Fuller in his basement, convinced she is an alien whose secrets could save humanity.
Despite its wild premise, the film uses conspiracy theories, echo chambers, and paranoia as metaphors for today’s fractured society. “There’s so much that reflects our world right now,” Stone said at the film’s launch, describing the project as “fascinating, moving, funny, and alive.”
The role demanded intensity from Stone, including a striking scene where her captors shave her head, an image that went viral when the trailer dropped. Asked about her personal belief in extraterrestrial life, Stone referenced astronomer Carl Sagan, saying: “To think we’re alone in the universe feels narcissistic. So yes, I believe in aliens.”
For Plemons, who portrays the unstable yet layered Teddy, the script offered a chance to explore how trauma and desperation shape people’s worldviews. Critics praised his performance, with Screen Daily highlighting the “depth” he brought to a character caught between delusion and conviction.
Reviews have called Bugonia a genre-bending ride. The Hollywood Reporter described it as a “blast of suspense, sci-fi, paranoia and dark comedy,” while The Telegraph awarded it five stars, praising Lanthimos’ ability to balance horror and humor. Stone’s performance drew universal acclaim, with Time hailing her as “a bold, creative performer” who is “laceratingly funny and bracingly convincing.”
Though often labeled dystopian, Lanthimos argues the story reflects the present rather than a distant future. “Not much of the dystopia in this film is fictional,” he said. “With technology, AI, wars, and denial of reality, we are facing a reckoning now.”
With its blend of psychological tension, satire, and raw emotion, Bugonia continues Lanthimos’ tradition of provocative storytelling , and may well position Stone for yet another awards-season spotlight.