- Title: FILE: A look at Oscars best picture nominee 'Bugonia'
- Date: 4th March 2026
- Summary: CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE - OCTOBER 20, 2025) (REUTERS) "BUGONIA" POSTER TWO BALD WOMEN TO MAN GETTING HIS HEAD SHAVED BEFORE "BUGONIA" SPECIAL SCREENING AT CULVER THEATER, TWO WEEKS BEFORE ITS WIDE U.S. THEATRICAL RELEASE, WITH ONE PROVISION: ONLY BALD PEOPLE CAN WATCH IT, AND IF YOU'RE NOT BALD, THEN YOU HAD TO SHAVE YOUR HEAD VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GETTING
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Aidan Delbis Alicia Silverstone Bugonia Emma Stone Jesse Plemons Oscars Stavros Halkias Yorgos Lanthimos best picture nominee
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA004040927012026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS AUDIBLE PROFANITY IN SHOT 8
"Poor Things" filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos' dark, comic thriller "Bugonia" will compete for the Oscars' top prize of best picture on March 15.
Offering a savage vision of our age of paranoia, delusion and decay, it follows two conspiracy-driven cousins, played by Jesse Plemons and newcomer Aidan Delbis, who kidnap a powerful pharmaceutical CEO, portrayed by Emma Stone, convinced she is an alien plotting humanity's destruction.
An English-language remake of South Korean director Jang Joon-hwan's 2003 "Save the Green Planet!," the film questions whether there might be intelligent beings out in the universe interfering with life on Earth.
Lanthimos returned to Venice Film Festival last summer, where he won the prestigious Golden Lion in 2023 for "Poor Things," starring longtime collaborator Stone in an Oscar-winning role.
"If anything, this film says, 'this is happening now' and actually it became more relevant as time went by. This is happening now. Humanity is facing... a reckoning very soon. Like people need to... choose the right path in many ways. Otherwise, I don't know how much time we have with... everything that's happening in the world with technology, with AI, with wars... climate change... And the denial of all these things, how desensitised we have become to all these things. So, yeah, to me, it's just more of a reflection of our times and hopefully will trigger people to think about what's happening today all around the world," said Lanthimos.
"For this film specifically, there is so much that's happening that I think is reflective of this point in time in our world," said Stone.
"Bugonia" has garnered several awards this season, including the Green Drop award at Venice for a film that focuses on environmental issues. It also won movie of the year at the AFI Awards, best hair and makeup at the European Film Awards, and best adapted screenplay at the San Diego Film Critics Awards.
Nominated for four Oscars this year, including best actress, best adapted screenplay and best original score, "Bugonia" will compete against best picture contenders including Joachim Trier's "Sentimental Value," Chloe Zhao's "Hamnet" and Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein."
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