The Most Divisive Sci-Fi Movie of 2025 Redeems Itself on Digital

The Most Divisive Sci-Fi Movie of 2025 Redeems Itself on Digital A police officer from BugoniaImage via Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection By  Rahul Malhotra Published 3 minutes ago Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema. 

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him). Sign in to your Collider account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Following the grand critical and commercial success of their first two films together — The Favourite and Poor Things — star-producer Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos seem to have hit a roadblock. They've had their collective freak on for a while now, but it was apparently a little too much for mainstream audiences. Their last film together, Kinds of Kindness, grossed just $16 million at the worldwide box office. But it only cost around $15 million to produce. Their latest collaboration, however, is a far more costly affair. The darkly comic sci-fi thriller Bugonia, in which Stone plays somebody who could be an alien, grossed just $33 million at the global box office, against a reported budget of $55 million — it's the most expensive movie of Lanthimos' career. Despite the underperformance, the movie seems to be drawing crowds on digital, after being launched at home this week.

According to FlixPatrol, Bugonia was the second-most-watched movie on the domestic Apple TV charts on November 26, a feat that it repeated on November 27. On both days, Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another was the number one movie on the Apple charts. Bugonia also features Jesse Plemons and newcomer Aidan Delbis in supporting roles as characters who kidnap a CEO played by Stone, convinced that she's an alien. Bugonia is a remake of the 2003 Korean movie Save the Green Planet!, and is co-produced by Ari Aster, who is himself struggling with poor box office results. After breaking out with Hereditary and Midsommar, Aster has directed two major flops: Beau is Afraid and Eddington.

'Bugonia' Opened to Positive Reviews, But Divided Audiences

Both movies proved to be as divisive as Bugonia, which is sitting at a "certified fresh" 87% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The website's consensus reads, "Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons are at the top of their game in Bugonia, a bonkers entertainment that applies director Yorgos Lanthimos' whip-smart method to modern society's madness." In his review, Collider's Ross Bonaime described Bugonia as "one of the strangest, absurd, and darkest comedies you'll see this year." It received a disappointing B grade according to CinemaScore, which explains its underperformance at the box office.

You can now watch Bugonia at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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Bugonia

Like Follow Followed R Science Fiction Crime Release Date November 7, 2025 Runtime 119 minutes Director Yorgos Lanthimos Writers Will Tracy Producers Andrew Lowe, Ari Aster, Ed Guiney, Emma Stone, Jerry Kyoungboum Ko, Lars Knudsen, Miky Lee, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kasia Malipan, Will Greenfield

Cast

See All

• Jesse Plemons Teddy
• Emma Stone Michelle

Inspired by the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet, Bugonia centers on a conspiracy-obsessed young man who kidnaps the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. But as they pursue their mission, they unravel secrets. 

Genres Science Fiction, Crime Powered by Expand Collapse

• Movie News
• Bugonia
• Emma Stone

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