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2h ago

Bugonia Earns Lengthy Ovation at Venice as Early Reviews Applaud Lanthimos–Stone Reunion

Focus Features will roll out the film in the U.S. starting October 24 following its festival bow, with an initial 100% critics score that remains based on a small sample.

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Director Yorgos Lanthimos and cast members Emma Stone, Jess Plemons and Aidan Delbis arrive at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy, August 28, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
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Overview

  • The world premiere at Venice drew a roughly 6-minute, 50-second standing ovation inside the Sala Grande, with Stone, Jesse Plemons and the cast taking multiple bows.
  • The dark comic thriller follows two conspiracy-obsessed men who abduct a powerful CEO they believe is an alien, in an English-language reworking of 2003’s Save the Green Planet! scripted by Will Tracy.
  • Early reactions highlight standout performances from Stone and Plemons, while Rotten Tomatoes shows a 100% Tomatometer based on a limited number of reviews that could change.
  • Lanthimos framed the film as a reflection of present-day anxieties, citing technology, AI, wars and climate change as reasons it feels less like dystopia than a mirror of now.
  • A new trailer showcases the film’s tone and imagery, including Stone’s shaved-head transformation, as Focus Features sets a limited U.S. opening on October 24 before a wide expansion on October 31.