Emma Stone’s ‘Bugonia’ Set for Peacock Streaming Debut

Emma Stone’s latest foray into science fiction, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, is poised to reach a wider audience as it becomes available to stream on Peacock from 26 December. Having first appeared digitally in November, this much-discussed thriller has already been hailed by critics as one of the standout films of the year, with its intricate plot and biting commentary on modern anxieties.

‘Bugonia’ centres on a high-flying executive, portrayed by Stone, who finds herself abducted by two young men convinced she is an extraterrestrial bent on Earth’s destruction. The film, a loose reinterpretation of the 2003 Korean cult classic ‘Save the Green Planet!’, has garnered significant praise, boasting a Certified Fresh rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 84% audience score. According to Britt Hayes, who reviewed the film, it is a “dark, discomforting satire for our polarised political era.”

Plot, Cast, and Creative Team

Released in cinemas on 31 October 2025, the film features a cast including Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone alongside Stone. Lanthimos, known for ‘The Favourite’ and ‘Poor Things’, directs from a script by Will Tracy, whose previous work includes ‘The Menu’. This marks another collaboration between Stone and Lanthimos, a partnership that has already attracted awards buzz, with both expected to be in contention for major honours this season.

The official synopsis reads:

Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.

Writing in a Time of Uncertainty

In a recent interview, screenwriter Will Tracy discussed how the atmosphere during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced his approach to the script. He described how the sense of isolation and uncertainty at the time mirrored the film’s central themes of suspicion and confusion.

I wrote the film sort of during the heat of COVID, and in some ways I still feel like we're living downstream from those moments, from those months. And that feeling of isolation, paranoia, confusion, not quite sure what story to believe, the official story, the unofficial story, every story that you're sort of being told doesn't really feel satisfying and doesn't really feel like it's leading you towards anything productive, either for you or your community.

Dark Turns and Character Motivations

Without giving too much away, the narrative delves into some rather bleak territory, including the troubled past of Teddy, played by Jesse Plemons, and a conclusion that refuses to offer easy answers. Tracy reflected on the motivations driving the characters, suggesting that each is, in their own way, striving to protect something important.

How else do you, you know, when you look around the world and see everything that's wrong, how do you live in that? You could just put on your blinders and try to make money, you put on your blinders and distract yourself, or you could try to do something... Everyone in the movie is on a mission to save something.