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No. As checked on October 8, 2026, Rotten Tomatoes showed Bugonia at 87% on the Tomatometer, based on 343 reviews, and 84% on the Popcornmeter, based on 1,000+ verified ratings. That is broadly positive critical reception. The real divide is narrower: it concerns the film’s bleak, abrasive tone, not its performances or craft. Some critics and viewers find that tone cruel or misanthropic, and they say so plainly. The aggregate score does not erase those objections, but it does not show that critics as a group rejected the film.
What the film is
Bugonia is a thriller and dark comedy directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Will Tracy, according to its distributor, Focus Features. Emma Stone plays Michelle, a high-powered CEO. Jesse Plemons plays Teddy, one of two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap her, convinced she is an alien intent on destroying Earth. The cast also includes Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone.
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The Associated Press describes the film as a remake of Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 Korean film Save the Green Planet!, and characterizes it as a mix of science fiction, horror, and comedy. That blend of genres explains much of the reaction: viewers who expect a conventional thriller and viewers who come for satire often respond to the same scenes in different ways.
What the scores show
Review aggregators report different things, and the figures below come from different dates and different measures. Read them as separate snapshots rather than as one running total.
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- Runtime: 119 minutes
| Measure | Score | Basis | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomatometer (critics) | 87% | 343 reviews | Rotten Tomatoes live page, accessed October 8, 2026 |
| Popcornmeter (audience) | 84% | 1,000+ verified ratings | Rotten Tomatoes live page, accessed October 8, 2026 |
| Tomatometer (Venice scorecard) | 87% | Festival-era reviews | Rotten Tomatoes Editorial, Venice Film Festival 2025 scorecard |
| Popcornmeter (Venice scorecard) | 77% | Festival-era audience ratings | Rotten Tomatoes Editorial, Venice Film Festival 2025 scorecard |
The Tomatometer is the share of reviews that the aggregator classifies as positive. It does not measure how enthusiastic critics were, and it does not mean every critic liked the film. The Popcornmeter reflects verified audience ratings, so it can move differently from critics. Both numbers will change as reviews and ratings accumulate, which is why the dated figures matter.
What the critics consensus says
The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus reads: “Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons are at the top of their game in Bugonia, a bonkers entertainment that applies director Yorgos Lanthimos’ whip-smart method to modern society’s madness.” That summary credits the performances and the director’s approach to social satire. It does not claim the film is pleasant, and it does not say everyone agreed.
Where the criticism comes from
The objections are specific. Three excerpts displayed on Rotten Tomatoes show the range of responses.
Rank #2
- Runtime: 119 minutes
Praise for the absurdity and the satire
Critic Ty Burr praises the film’s absurdity and its caustic honesty about modern social problems. For reviewers in this camp, the cruelty is the point: the film’s harshness is how it makes its argument about contemporary anxieties, conspiracy culture, and corporate power.
Objections to insincere misanthropy
Adam Kempenaar objects to what he sees as insincere misanthropy. His complaint is not that the film is dark, but that its contempt for its characters and its audience feels performed rather than earned. This is the sharpest version of the stylistic disagreement, and it is the reason some viewers call the film alienating.
A harsh festival verdict
Time film critic Stephanie Zacharek’s Venice review is a clear negative example. She criticizes the film’s cruelty and sadism, while praising Stone’s performance. Her review shows that a critic can admire the lead and still reject the film’s tone. One negative review cannot establish that critics as a whole were alienated, but it does illustrate the kind of objection that drives the divide.
Rank #3
- Blu-ray
What Lanthimos has said about the bleakness
At the Venice Film Festival, as reported by the Associated Press on August 28, 2025, Lanthimos defended the film’s dystopian content: “Not much of the dystopia in this film is very fictional,” and “A lot of it is very reflective of the real world.” These remarks are the director’s framing, not a review, but they explain why the film’s harshness is deliberate. Critics who read the satire as a mirror of current conditions tend to respond differently from critics who read it as misanthropy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Festival reviews and release-period reviews
The response unfolded in stages, and the stages are not interchangeable:
- Venice premiere, August 28, 2025. Early reviews and the festival scorecard come from the premiere period, when critics first assessed the film.
- Limited North American release, beginning October 24, 2025. Focus Features announced this engagement, and reviews published around it reflect a wider critical pool.
- Wide expansion, October 31, 2025. Reviews from this period broaden the sample and often include more general-audience reactions.
When you compare reception, check which stage a figure belongs to. The Venice scorecard’s 77% Popcornmeter, for example, is an earlier snapshot and not the audience score shown on the live page.
Rank #4
How to decide whether it will alienate you
The aggregate score can tell you that most reviewers found the film well made and worth discussing. It cannot tell you whether you will be put off by its tone. These questions are more useful:
- Do you enjoy satire that is deliberately cruel, or does cruelty for its own sake make you disengage?
- Do you want the performances to carry the film, or do you need characters to be sympathetic?
- Did you find the premise, a CEO held by conspiracy-minded captors, a comic idea or an uncomfortable one?
- Are you willing to accept a film that ends on an unsettling note rather than a resolution?
If you answered yes to the first and second questions, the critical praise is likely to match your experience. If you answered no to the first, the objections from Kempenaar and Zacharek are the reviews worth reading closely before you watch.
Note that the Rotten Tomatoes figures are from October 8, 2026. Scores for a 2025 release can shift as additional reviews are added, so check the live page for current totals.
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Lanthimos’s film is not a consensus favorite in the sense of a crowd-pleaser, and it is not a failure with critics. It is a sharply divisive satire that most critics admired and a minority found hard to watch. That distinction is the accurate answer to the question.
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