Emma Stone at Venice: “I Believe in Aliens”
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Emma Stone said during the press conference for Bugonia at the Venice Film Festival that not only does she believe in aliens, but that she might be one herself. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the film is a remake of the South Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet.
Bugonia follows two young men obsessed with conspiracy theories who kidnap the CEO of a major corporation, convinced she is an alien planning to destroy Earth.
When asked why she continues to collaborate with Lanthimos, Stone replied: “I love working with Yorgos. I love the sources I’m drawn to, the worlds I want to explore, and the characters he so generously entrusts to me.”
She described Bugonia as “a reflection of this moment in our world” and called it “a fascinating and shocking, hilarious and doomed film.”
Greek director Lanthimos, who appeared at the photocall and press conference wearing a Palestine pin, elaborated on the film’s story: “Much of the dystopia in this movie is not really fictional. Many of its parts directly reflect the real world. So I don’t necessarily see it as a dystopian film, but rather as a depiction of the future and what has happened to civilization.”
He added: “Humanity will soon face a reckoning, and people must choose the right path. Otherwise, with everything happening in the world — technology, artificial intelligence, wars, global warming, and the denial of it all — I don’t know how much time we have left.”
When asked if he believed some higher force was watching over humanity, Lanthimos said he did not know. But Stone added that she is a fan of Carl Sagan’s documentary series Cosmos, explaining: “I fell in love with his philosophy and science. And I think he deeply believed that imagining we are alone in this vast universe — not whether someone is watching us, but whether we are truly alone — is profoundly narcissistic. So yes, I want to confess that I believe in aliens.”
Bugonia marks Stone’s fourth feature collaboration with Lanthimos, following Poor Things, The Favourite, and Kinds of Kindness.
Bugonia will be released on October 24, 2025.
