SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details about Bugonia (2025)
When I first heard Emma Stone was getting kidnapped by some conspiracy theorist who thinks she's an alien in the new Yorgos Lanthimos film, I pretty much rolled my eyes. Great, another movie making fun of UFO enthusiasts. But I actually watched Bugonia after it came out in late October, and I have to say—I'm kind of blown away by how much they nailed about Andromedans. Out of all of the species found in ufology, they somehow picked one of the most interesting ones and actually did their homework.
In Bugonia, Jesse Plemons plays Teddy Gatz, a beekeeper convinced that pharmaceutical CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) belongs to a "malignant alien species known as the 'Andromedans,'" who he believes are intent on destroying Earth. But here's where it gets interesting—the Andromedans aren't something the filmmakers just invented for dramatic effect. They're a well-documented presence in contactee literature and alleged extraterrestrial encounters going back decades.
According to contactee Alex Collier, who claims to have communicated with beings from the Andromeda constellation, Andromedans are described as humanoid entities with bluish skin standing over 2 meters tall. Sound familiar? The physical characteristics match certain descriptions from the film's aesthetic choices, particularly Stone's otherworldly appearance after her character's head is shaved.
In ufology circles, Andromedans are described as beings 2 to 5 meters tall with slim, fragile appearances and sky or pale blue skin, completely lacking body hair. The detail about body hair is particularly striking given the film's obsession with baldness—one of the four keywords director Lanthimos gave his composer was literally "Emily-bald."
Here's where the film takes a fascinating departure from established Andromedan mythology. Traditional accounts describe Andromedans as founding members of the supposed Galactic Federation of United Planets, alongside Lyrans and Arcturians, with interest in creating a better future for humanity. They're generally portrayed as benevolent observers, not the sinister infiltrators Teddy believes them to be.
But isn't that the whole point? Bugonia isn't about whether aliens are real—it's about what happens when we twist fragmentary information into paranoid narratives that justify violence. The film examines who the real monsters are, questioning what is tangibly human and emotionally alien, particularly in its critique of corporate power and pharmaceutical manipulation.
What really sent chills down my spine was learning about the specific claims made by alleged contactees. Collier has stated that humans are supposedly composed of 22 different alien races, and that approximately 135 billion beings inhabit planets across the eight galaxies nearest to ours. When you consider that the film centers on a pharmaceutical company called Auxolith (literally meaning "growth stone"), and Teddy's obsession with humanity being manipulated at the genetic level, the parallels to actual contactee mythology become almost eerie.
According to Collier's accounts, the manipulation of human DNA allegedly dates back 5,700 years in its most intensive form, though it supposedly began 14,000 years ago when entities from Orion first altered our genetic structure. While Bugonia doesn't go this deep into ancient astronaut theory, it absolutely plays with the idea of hidden genetic or biological manipulation through pharmaceutical interventions.
In black and white flashbacks, the film reveals how Michelle's character connects to Teddy's mother Sandy, who underwent a drug trial that backfired, with Teddy ranting about corporate domination through technological enslavement and environmental poisoning. This hits remarkably close to long-standing UAP community concerns about corporate and governmental knowledge of non-human intelligence being weaponized for control.
Former Canadian Defense Minister Paul Hellyer went on record in 2005 claiming that extraterrestrials are present on Earth, with some even working within governmental and corporate structures. Hellyer specifically mentioned that aliens have visited Earth from various star systems, including the Pleiades and Andromeda, and stated that some live on Saturn's moons. The idea of aliens hiding in plain sight, particularly in positions of power, is a cornerstone of certain UAP theories—and it's exactly what drives Teddy's conviction.
One detail that's been flying under the radar in film discussions is Teddy's profession as a beekeeper and his concern about colony collapse. Teddy rants specifically about the destruction of bees as evidence of corporate poisoning of the world. In UAP research circles, particularly among those investigating cattle mutilations and environmental phenomena, there's been longstanding discussion about potential extraterrestrial interest in Earth's pollinator species and ecosystem health. It's a subtle touch, but it shows the filmmakers did their homework.
What makes Bugonia genuinely unsettling isn't whether the Andromedans are real—it's how accurately it portrays the rabbit hole of conspiracy thinking in the social media age. The film shows Teddy's theories coming from conspiracy podcasts and crackpot online sources, combined with his own experimentation. Anyone who's spent time in UAP forums knows exactly this spiral: genuine anomalous phenomena get mixed with disinformation, personal trauma, and increasingly extreme interpretations until you can't separate signal from noise.
The film's marketing campaign even leaned into this with an in-universe website called "Human Resistance HQ" and vandalized billboards reading "ANDROMEDAN FILTH." It's guerrilla marketing that understands how conspiracy communities actually communicate and organize.
Bugonia succeeds because it refuses to give us easy answers. Is Michelle Fuller actually an alien? Does it matter if Teddy's beliefs are delusional if his rage about pharmaceutical exploitation is rooted in genuine corporate malfeasance? The film sits in that uncomfortable space where real grievances fuel fictional paranoia—or is it the other way around?
For those of us who take UAP research seriously, Bugonia is both validating and challenging. It acknowledges that Andromedan mythology exists as a real cultural phenomenon worth exploring cinematically. But it also forces us to confront how easily legitimate inquiry can curdle into dangerous extremism when we lose sight of evidence-based investigation.
Whether you believe in blue-skinned visitors from Andromeda or think it's all New Age fantasy, Bugonia deserves attention as a film that actually engages with UFO culture rather than simply dismissing it. In an era where the Pentagon is releasing UAP footage and Congress is holding hearings on non-human intelligence, maybe Hollywood is finally catching up to what contactees have been saying for decades—even if it's wrapped in Lanthimos' signature surrealist horror.
Just don't expect easy answers. In true UAP fashion, Bugonia leaves you with more questions than conclusions. And maybe that's exactly the point.
