As Yorgos Lanthimos returns to the Oscar race with his latest film, ‘Bugonia’, starring Emma Stone, we delve into its potential for major awards.
Best Picture? Best Actress? Instant Oscar Predictions for Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Bugonia’ Starring Emma Stone
Over the past decade, Yorgos Lanthimos has transformed from a “Greek Weird Wave” provocateur into one of the most decorated auteurs in Hollywood. With The Favourite (10 Oscar nominations, one win for Olivia Colman) and Poor Things (11 nominations, four wins including Best Actress for Emma Stone) already under his belt, Lanthimos is back in the Oscar conversation with Bugonia.
The satirical dark comedy, a remake of the 2003 South Korean cult film Save the Green Planet!, follows two conspiracy theorists (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) who kidnap a corporate CEO (Stone) they believe is an alien plotting humanity’s demise. Blending satire, sci-fi, and Lanthimos’ signature strangeness, Bugonia is already sparking debate over whether the Academy will embrace it as they did Poor Things — or find it too prickly for mainstream voters.
Oscar Race Overview
Here’s a look at the Oscar races where Bugonia should be competitive, along with the early Gold Derby odds.
Best Picture
Bugonia enters the Best Picture race in solid position, currently ranked fifth in the field of 10 potential nominees. After the massive success of The Favourite and Poor Things, it’s easy to overlook last year’s smaller, less awards-friendly Kinds of Kindness (which also starred Stone and Plemons) and assume Lanthimos is firmly back on the Oscar track. The rapturous Venice reception and glowing reviews — the film is “certified fresh” at 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — suggest momentum is on his side once again. The only question, as always with Lanthimos, is whether his eccentric tastes will broaden the Academy’s palate or put off more traditional voters.
Best Director
Already a two-time nominee in this category (with five bids overall), Lanthimos is well-positioned to earn his third directing nod for Bugonia. The raves out of Venice only strengthen his case, especially if voters embrace the film as a bold artistic vision rather than a quirky genre experiment. Clearly a favorite among the directing branch, it’s no surprise he’s tracking near the top of the race.
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Best Actress
Fresh off her second Oscar win for Poor Things, Stone is once again firmly in the mix. Her eccentric turn as a possible alien in disguise may not look like traditional Academy bait, but with four nominations in the past decade, it’s clear voters really, really like her. A passionate performance and a strong campaign could easily nudge her into the top five. For now, she sits in sixth place — close enough to strike.
Best Actor
Plemons, a first-time nominee in 2022 for The Power of the Dog, is earning some of the strongest notices out of Venice for his turn as the obsessive conspiracy theorist. Sitting just outside the top five, he’s positioned as a dark horse who could become one of the season’s breakout stories if Bugonia continues to rack up critical acclaim.
Best Adapted Screenplay
This is Bugonia’s most promising category. Six-time Emmy winner Will Tracy (Succession, The Menu) teamed with Jang Joon-hwan, the writer-director of the original Save the Green Planet!, to reinvent the cult classic for a new audience. The result is being hailed by critics as both wild and razor-sharp. Given the Academy’s history of rewarding bold, daring scripts, this may be the film’s clearest path to Oscar gold. Previous Lanthimos projects nominated for top-notch writing include The Lobster (Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou), The Favourite (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara), and Poor Things (McNamara).
