'The conspiracy theory idea is a starting point'

Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and director Yorgos Lanthimos discuss societal pain with Lynn Rusk in their upcoming conspiracy theory comedy Bugonia

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When Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos first worked together on The Favourite in 2018, a beautiful creative collaboration was born.

Since then, the pair have reunited on several projects, including Poor Things in 2023, which earned Stone her second Academy Award for Best Actress.

Their latest collaboration, Bugonia, offers a darkly comic glimpse into the modern age of conspiracy theories and paranoia.

Stone, 36, who also serves as a producer on the film, stars as Michelle, a ruthless CEO of a pharmaceutical company that manufactures drugs and pesticides.

A remake of the 2003 Korean cult classic Save the Green Planet!, the story follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men, Teddy and Don, played by Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis, who kidnap Michelle, convinced she is an alien sent to destroy humanity.

After chaining her in a basement and coming face-to-face with their supposed enemy, the two sides, the tinfoil-hat basement dwellers and the steely, soulless corporate executive, soon find themselves locked in a battle as viscerally unpredictable as it is unexpectedly moving.

Lanthimos, 52, explains that although the film delves into the world of conspiracy theories, these ideas are simply the jumping-off point for a deeper narrative.

"I think the idea of conspiracy theories is just a starting point," the Greek filmmaker says. "It's a way to explore how people function in our day and age, how they think, how they form communities, groups, and relationships.