The Big Picture – "Best Picture Power Rankings, ‘Bugonia,’ and the New Paranoid Thriller, With Yorgos Lanthimos!"

Date: October 31, 2025
Hosts: Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins
Special Guest: Yorgos Lanthimos
Producer: Jack Sanders

Episode Overview

In this episode of The Big Picture, Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins provide a comprehensive update on the evolving Best Picture Oscar race, ranking the top contenders for the month. They also dive deep into Yorgos Lanthimos's latest film, Bugonia—a genre-blending paranoid thriller comedy starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. The discussion covers the film's themes, performances, resonance with contemporary anxieties, and its place in the current award season landscape.

The episode concludes with an in-depth interview with Yorgos Lanthimos, covering his approach to Bugonia, collaborating with new screenwriter Will Tracy, balancing structure and spontaneity in filmmaking, and thoughts on the state of cinema.

Best Picture Power Rankings: October 2025

[03:00–21:53]

Key Updates and Movements

• Recent shifts in Oscar buzz prompt Amanda and Sean to open with their monthly Best Picture power rankings.
• Films discussed include returners and heavy-hitters as well as risers and fallers post-festival season.

Current Top 10 (as of this episode):

1. One Battle After Another: Continues as the presumed frontrunner.
2. Hamnet
3. Sinners
4. Sentimental Value
5. Frankenstein (noted as the "fastest riser")
6. Wicked for Good (moving up from #10, earning more excitement and buzz)
7. Marty Supreme (Limited but strong festival showing)
8. It Was Just An Accident
9. J. Kelly (cooling off despite Adam Sandler's Gotham nom)
10. Begonia (the subject of the episode, viewed as a wildcard with strong pedigree)

Other contenders under consideration:

• Train Dreams (pending more evidence from screenings)
• Fire and Ash (not yet widely seen)
• No Other Choice and The Secret Agent (potential acting-category strength)
• Wake Up Deadman and Avatar: Fire and Ash ("Blockbuster spots" – debate over which get in alongside Wicked for Good)

Notable Commentary

• "My gut is to leave Begonia in right now." – Sean [16:52]
• Amanda and Sean highlight the challenge for blockbuster/franchise films, stating that typically only one gets into the Best Picture lineup.
• Netflix's Oscar campaigns are discussed (“they’re literally the best at getting nominations.” – Sean [17:33])
• The hosts ponder whether F1, a Brad Pitt–Jerry Bruckheimer racing film, can be a dark horse nomination due to its craft and international appeal.

On "Begonia" as a contender:

• Amanda: “Lanthimos and Emma Stone are both kind of like, carved into the Academy voting firmament…” [11:59]
• Sean: “I think it’s like at number 10. I’m very curious what kind of business this movie does…” [12:44]

Bugonia: Review and Discussion

[22:05–57:38]

Film Summary

• Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, written by Will Tracy, and inspired by the cult South Korean film Save the Green Planet.
• Stars Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aiden Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone.
• Plot: Two conspiracy-obsessed men kidnap a pharmaceutical CEO, convinced she’s an alien invading Earth.

Key Themes and Insights

The New Paranoid Thriller

• Bugonia is positioned by the hosts as part of a new wave of “paranoid” thrillers echoing 1970s classics but updated for the online, conspiratorial age.
• Sean: "Are Yorgos Lanthimos films fun? ...I find his movies to be incredibly bleak and mordantly funny… kind of punishing when thinking about the human condition." [24:06]

Performance Highlights

• Emma Stone’s performance is characterized as bold and unafraid, taking her further from her “America’s sweetheart” roots.
  • “She doesn’t give a fuck… She encapsulates the corporate greed, systemic aspect of this situation.” – Amanda [27:51]
• Jesse Plemons is praised for grounding a not-fully-sympathetic but deeply relatable character.
  • “He is not judging the person… you believe it too, or at least you don’t judge him.” – Amanda [34:29]

Satire and Corporate Critique

• The film skewers corporate-speak and managerial platitudes—scenes of Stone’s CEO are described as “chilling and funny in an ‘I want to jump off a cliff’ sort of way.” [27:51]
• Amanda and Sean relate the film’s office politics to universal experiences—“any person with a corporate email account” will recognize the dynamic. [29:08]

Realism and Formal Choices

• The hosts notice Lanthimos’s unusual commitment to realism, grounding the absurdity in a world that feels more familiar than in his previous films: “It’s actually the most real, grounded world I think he’s probably ever made a movie in.” – Sean [30:09]

Paranoia, Conspiracy, and Online Radicalization

• The film serves as a commentary on the internet age, algorithmic “bubbles,” and the inability to communicate across worldviews.
  • “[Teddy] cannot be drawn into her game in any way… he knows all the talking points.” – Sean [35:19]
• The movie blurs lines between left and right, exploring how anyone can fall victim to paranoid thinking and the desire for control.

Spoiler Section: The Ending

• (Spoiler warning given at [44:02]) Both hosts admit the film “got” them with its clever structure—Emma Stone’s character is ultimately revealed as an alien, validating the paranoid suspicions of the protagonist but to no cathartic or world-saving end.
  • “Teddy was right... and it doesn’t matter; he can’t make any change. She still outsmarted him.” – Sean [46:03]

Thematic Takeaways

• The conclusion is read as an allegory of powerlessness in modern life; even when “right,” the powerless have no agency (“He’s just another bee in the hive.” – Sean [46:41]).
• Amanda links her emotional reaction to similar feelings in films like The Big Short: “I remember sitting in the theaters... fuck, this is really working on me.” [54:13]

Placement in Lanthimos’s Filmography

• Amanda: "I saw this and I was like, oh, it’s Dogtooth... he’s wearing his Dogtooth hat, not his Poor Things hat.” [24:49]
• The film is identified as a return to the director’s bleaker, more eccentric roots, as opposed to the more accessible and “hopeful” tone of his recent Oscar-winning Poor Things.

Oscar Prospects for Emma Stone

• Discussion of a stacked Best Actress field—hosts conclude Stone is likely to be nominated again.
  • Jack Sanders: “[Stone] delivers that line... 'I'm a winner and you're a loser.' It just cuts right through.” [57:47]
  • “She'll be nominated… she's a huge star, clearly one of the actresses of her generation.” – Sean [59:08]

Interview: Yorgos Lanthimos

[63:15–91:35]

On Script Selection and Working with Will Tracy

• Lanthimos describes Bugonia as the first time he took on a script nearly ready-to-go, only tweaking to align with his sensibility.
  • “I received a screenplay, and I think it’s almost ready to go... entertaining and suspenseful and complex and very funny, but also dealing with a lot of darkness, which always interests me.” [63:49]
• First encountered the story via the script—saw Save the Green Planet later to ensure sufficient difference for a remake.

Visual Approach and Restrictions

• Chose to shoot on VistaVision—a cumbersome but beautiful format—imposing limits on movement and lens selection.
  • “We always love restrictions… it just makes things clearer and easier… the alphabet is these lenses, the camera doesn’t move unless people move…” [70:12]
• Discusses the juxtaposition of “portraiture” shots inside, with wide, doomy Natural Light when outdoors, to heighten the sense of menace.

On Method, Tone, and Structure

• Embraces visible “construct” and artificiality in cinematic style (“I find something interesting about watching a film, getting lost in it, and then something reminding you that you’re watching a film.” [74:24])
• Acknowledges Bugonia’s rare reliance on suspense and “dramatic reveal”—but ultimately stresses that character engagement is more important than tricking the audience.

Themes of Division and Technology

• “It’s becoming really hard to burst through that bubble... instead of opening you up to other ideas, [technology] just gives you what you want.” [77:53]
• Will Tracy’s concept: “When you take all these people that anonymously…make all these comments... and put them in a room—what happens?” [79:04]

Casting Aiden Delbis (Supporting Role)

• Sought a non-professional, neurodivergent actor for the third main role. Aiden Delbis “really stood out”, was “unfazed” on a set with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, and contributed authentic instincts and presence. [83:26]

On the State of Moviegoing

• Lanthimos sees a widening divide; stressed the communal, irreplaceable aspect of cinema:
  • “It’s a totally different experience, and we should do whatever we can to retain it.” [89:03]

Last Great Thing He Saw:

• Kelly Reichardt’s Mastermind: “So delicate, but at the same time powerful… every time, you know, one of her films, I’m terribly moved.” [90:13]

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Oscar Buzz:

  • Sean: “My gut is to leave Begonia in right now.” [16:52]

• On Emma Stone’s Career:

  • Amanda: “She doesn’t give a fuck… She encapsulates the corporate greed, systemic aspect of this situation.” [27:51]
  • Sean: “It’s nice… it’s something we share.” [55:27]

• On Structure and Viewer Response:

  • Amanda: “I really did go back and forth four or five times… when she goes back to the closet and then the big reveal, like, I laughed. I was like, that is genuinely funny. You guys got me.” [44:59]
  • Sean: “Teddy was right. And it doesn’t matter because he’s just a dumb guy with no agency and he’s just another bee in the hive and he can't make any change.” [46:03]

• On Modern Paranoia:

  • Sean: “The film serves as a commentary on the internet age, algorithmic 'bubbles,' and the inability to communicate across worldviews.” [35:19]
  • Yorgos Lanthimos: “It’s becoming really hard to burst through that bubble... especially with the aid of technology and how fast it progresses.” [77:53]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Power Ranking Discussion: [03:00–21:53]
• Begonia Review / Analysis: [22:05–57:38]
• Oscar Acting Race Discussion: [57:38–63:15]
• Yorgos Lanthimos Interview: [63:15–91:35]

Episode Takeaways

• Bugonia is both familiar and bracingly new for Lanthimos—returning to his weirder, bleaker roots while commenting incisively on 2020s society and our obsession with knowing, controlling, and exposing a hidden order behind chaos.
• The Best Picture race remains fluid, but Begonia is seen as hovering on the edge—bolstered by director and star pedigree, but less accessible and hopeful than recent Academy favorites.
• Emma Stone is a near-lock for another Best Actress nomination, and the field is competitive.
• Lanthimos values constraints and formal experimentation, and champions communal moviegoing. He remains intellectually restless and open to new process—even as his work continues to probe the dark absurdities of human nature.