Small details that don’t add up, online chatrooms egging you on, and a secret organization controlling your reality. When you live in an echo chamber, unrelated events can easily become an interconnected scapegoat for your biggest fears. Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2025 film “Bugonia” skillfully delves into the twisted and nuance-riddled nature of conspiracy theories and their followers.
The story follows a quirky and deeply troubled pair of cousins plotting to kidnap a high-profile female CEO. They believe she belongs to a race of aliens called “Andromedans” who disguise themselves as humans. The bee-loving brains behind the operation, Teddy, convinces his cousin that she aims to destroy Earth’s honeybee population and force its humans into subservience.
The movie does an excellent job at portraying the flawed thinking that leads to the formation and cult following of conspiracy theories. Teddy survived an incredibly traumatic upbringing and was left isolated. He turned to chatrooms online and alternative news sources for information. To cope, he puts all of his time into the Andromedan theory, creating a scapegoat for the pain in his life. He thinks if there was a higher power causing all these problems, an enemy to fight, he could get revenge.
Watching the pair of cousins act out this seemingly doomed plan is pretty heartbreaking, but in a shocking twist, “Bugonia” makes it clear that anyone could fall victim to conspiracy theories. Lanthimos uses intentionally misleading imagery within the plot to leave the viewer unsure of the truth, a mindset which people peddling conspiracy theories frequently prey on.
Within the movie there are elements that you are supposed to recognize as intentionally deceptive—a trick by the CEO attempting to escape. For example, she tells Teddy that the antifreeze in the trunk of her car is secretly a cure to his mother’s illness. This lie results in his mother’s death, and it leads the audience to pity his presumable cognitive dissonance. However, an equally absurd event, where the CEO claims that the calculator in her office has a 50 digit code which can teleport her to her spaceship ends up being true.
At first I didn’t like the twist ending, the big reveal that Teddy’s been right all along. But after thinking it over, I believe it allows for the movie to mean something bigger than just its original story. It got me thinking about the purpose of an ending like that, it felt deeper than just a grab at shock value. I believe this intentionally misleading imagery creates a sense of distortion within the movie’s setting, showing that anyone could be the victim of conspiracy theorist ploys. “Bugonia” leaves the audience questioning not only their own reality, but personal rationality.
As someone who can’t stand exterterrestrial movies; I was skeptical of even giving it a chance, but I’m so glad I did. “Bugonia” sucks you in right away and leaves you putting pieces together about the movie’s deeper themes and its big picture applications.
