Last year, Bugonia—the darkly comic sci-fi thriller from director Yorgos Lanthimos—hit theaters with high expectations but stumbled at the box office. Now, the film is finding a second life on HBO Max, where it's climbing the streaming charts and winning over a new audience.
Starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, Bugonia follows two conspiracy-obsessed cousins who kidnap a pharmaceutical CEO (Stone), convinced she's an alien plotting to destroy Earth. The film, which also features Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Willem Dafoe, and Hunter Schafer, earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Stone, but grossed only $43 million worldwide against a reported budget of $55 million.
Despite its theatrical underperformance, Bugonia has found a new audience on streaming. According to FlixPatrol, the film landed at number two on HBO Max's global top 10 chart this past weekend, trailing only Mortal Kombat II. This resurgence highlights how streaming can give overlooked films a second chance to connect with viewers.
The movie's critical reception has been strong, with a Certified Fresh 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have praised the performances of Stone and Plemons, with the consensus calling it "a bonkers entertainment that applies director Yorgos Lanthimos' whip-smart method to modern society's madness."
This isn't the first time Lanthimos and Stone have collaborated. Their previous efforts, The Favourite and Poor Things, both grossed over $100 million worldwide and earned Stone Oscar nominations, with Poor Things winning her a second Academy Award. However, their follow-up, Kinds of Kindness, an absurdist anthology, underperformed commercially and divided audiences, setting the stage for Bugonia's mixed reception.
Inspired by the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet, Bugonia blends Lanthimos' signature dark humor with a sci-fi premise that explores themes of paranoia and corporate greed. While it may not have been a box office hit, its streaming success proves that audiences are still drawn to bold, unconventional storytelling.
For fans of Lanthimos and Stone, Bugonia is now available to stream on HBO Max, offering a chance to see why it earned critical acclaim and award recognition. As the film continues to gain traction on the platform, it's clear that sometimes a movie just needs the right platform to find its audience.
