Key Highlights
- Yorgos Lanthimos directed “Bugonia,” his first film without closely developing the script himself.
- The movie is a loose remake of the 2003 South Korean black comedy horror thriller, “Save the Green Planet!”
- Emma Stone was cast as the lead alongside Jesse Plemons after their collaboration on “Kinds of Kindness.”
- “Bugonia” shot in the U.K. and Georgia, with much of it set inside a fully functional basement built for the film.
The Visionary Director’s New Approach
Yorgos Lanthimos, the acclaimed Greek filmmaker behind critically praised works such as “The Favourite” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” approached his latest project with an unconventional yet familiar method. In Bugonia, Lanthimos took on the challenge of remaking a South Korean cult classic, “Save the Green Planet!” — a film he describes as a “tremendous gift” to receive a fully developed script.
“Up until this point, I’d read scripts, but I’ve never been so excited immediately afterward that I would say, ‘This is what I want to make just as it is,'” Lanthimos reflects. “To be handed something that was already so great was a tremendous gift.”
Emma Stone’s Uncommon Partnership
The production of Bugonia quickly took off when Lanthimos reached out to his frequent collaborator, Emma Stone. Stone, who starred in three previous films with the director, including “The Favourite,” embraced the project from the start.
“I read it that same day, and from then on, we were like, let’s do this,” Stone says. “It was really crazy for me because ever since The Favourite, I’ve seen the projects we’ve done together in very different states of being, where they take years to develop. This was the first time we received a script and were like, ‘Whoa, let’s go make this right away,’ and it basically doesn’t require any process.”
The Film’s Unique Setting
Bugonia is set in a fully functional house complete with an authentic American-style basement. Production designer James Price built the set to resemble a Southern home, filled with Americana interiors and detritus that reflect the chaotic mind of the character Teddy.
“Walking around that space was incredibly helpful to me,” says Jesse Plemons, who plays Teddy. “It’s the only set I’ve ever felt emotional about destroying after we were done because it transcended a set. For me, it was a real place and a real home.”
The Shooting Process
A key element of Bugonia’s production was the use of VistaVision film format to capture rich, grand images within confined interiors. Lanthimos and his director of photography, Robbie Ryan, worked together to ensure that despite the tight spaces, the film would maintain its visual appeal.
“When we realized it could be possible, Yorgos decided to fully commit — to shoot the whole thing, to the extent possible, on VistaVision,” explains Ryan. “The cameras are fragile and cumbersome — about 200 pounds — but it was really exciting because the images were just perfect.”
Despite technical challenges, Bugonia achieved its goal of creating a visually stunning film that maintains ambiguity through its final act twist. The movie premiered in November 2025 and has garnered significant attention for its unique blend of genres and themes relevant to contemporary society.
