Emma Stone Gets Shaved and Kidnapped in ‘Bugonia’ Trailer

Emma Stone returns in Bugonia, her latest project with director Yorgos Lanthimos. The trailer has dropped, and it already has people talking. What we see is a dark mix of paranoia, absurdity and tension, with Stone caught in the middle.

Stone’s Striking Transformation

The preview opens with Stone’s character, Michelle Fuller, a powerful corporate figure, snatched outside her home by two men convinced she is not human. In one of the most unsettling moments, they shave her head, claiming it will stop her from “contacting the mother ship.” Stone’s transformation is stark. Her famous red hair is gone, replaced by a shaved scalp and a defiant glare that lingers long after the clip ends.

Conspiracy and Comedy Collide

The kidnappers, played by Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis, are conspiracy obsessives who see Fuller as part of a plot against humanity. Their basement interrogation swings between bleak humour and genuine menace, while the outside world scrambles to find the missing CEO.

The atmosphere sharpens further with a slowed, ghostly version of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” It turns the pop hit into something strange and unsettling.

A Partnership Built on Risk

This marks the fourth collaboration between Stone and Lanthimos, after The Favourite, Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness. Few actor and director partnerships push boundaries in quite the same way. Stone throws herself into roles that demand total transformation, while Lanthimos shapes stories that sit uneasily between satire and discomfort. Together, they make films that refuse to play safe.

Release and Reception

Bugonia premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 28 August, sparking instant debate about Stone’s transformation and the film’s razor-sharp humour. It reaches UK cinemas on 24 October in limited release. A nationwide rollout follows on 31 October, just in time for Halloween.

Why It Matters

On the surface, Bugonia is a story about alien paranoia. Beneath that lies a sharper critique: conspiracy culture, corporate mistrust and the thin line between conviction and delusion.

Emma Stone, bald-headed and chained in a basement, has once again picked a role that shows her at her most fearless.