What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedBugonia
Yorgos Lanthimos · Film · 2025
If you loved Bugonia, start with The Future (Naomi Alderman, 2025) — a book on the same thread. Below: 3 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Bugonia across media.
If Bugonia hooked you, it is because you crave stories where power dynamics and corporate paranoia spiral into absurd, high-stakes existential chaos.
Books on the same thread
The Future
Naomi Alderman · Book · 2025
Explores: Technological surveillance, Cults and indoctrination, Wealth inequality.
Like the corporate obsession found in Bugonia, this thriller explores how mega-rich entities manipulate reality, perfectly capturing the same feeling of navigating a world controlled by elusive, powerful figures.
Broadband Horizons
Marcelo Palacios · Book · 2024
Explores: Artificial Intelligence, Corporate Corruption, Digital Identity.
This narrative mirrors the corporate corruption central to Bugonia, focusing on how individuals confront massive, dehumanizing institutions that hold the future of humanity in their cold, calculated hands.
Air
Christian Kracht · Book · 2026
Explores: Existential dread, Unreliable reality, Cultural alienation.
Fans of Bugonia will appreciate the deep sense of existential dread and unreliable reality here, as the story forces you to question what is truly happening beneath the surface.
Series on the same thread
Pluribus
Vince Gilligan · Series · 2025
Shares a thread with Bugonia: Dark Comedy.
This series shares the satirical DNA of Bugonia, using a darkly comedic premise to critique societal structures while placing an unlikely protagonist at the center of global stakes.
Your Friends & Neighbors
Jonathan Tropper · Series · 2025
Shares a thread with Bugonia: dark comedy.
If you enjoyed the way Bugonia turns social status into a deadly game, you will be drawn to this story of a man dismantling his own wealthy circle from within.
IT: Welcome to Derry
Andy Muschietti · Series · 2025
Explores: Childhood Trauma, Ancient Evil, Group of Friends.
The sense of paranoid discovery in Bugonia translates well to this mystery, where a group of outsiders begins to uncover a terrifying truth hidden within their everyday small town.
The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball
Ben Bocquelet · Series · 2025
Explores: Subversion of Reality, Family Dynamics, Small Town Life.
The absurdist subversion of reality in this series echoes the chaotic energy of Bugonia, particularly in how it treats corporate entities and artificial threats with a playful, biting edge.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Orphans
The Light and Tragic Company · Podcast · 2025
This audio drama captures the same feeling of isolation and identity confusion found in Bugonia, emphasizing the struggle for survival against AIs and strangers who share familiar faces.
Recycle Bin
fpt. · Podcast · 2025
Explores: internet culture, tech industry news, casual conversation.
If your favorite part of Bugonia was its cynical take on modern industry, this podcast offers a similar satirical analysis of the tech culture that drives our current world.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Bugonia based on a book or a previous film?
Bugonia is a 2025 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. There are no source-material or adaptation siblings for this title in our current catalog, so it is an original production rather than a remake or an adaptation of a novel.
What is the premise of Bugonia?
Bugonia follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap a high-powered CEO. They are convinced that she is actually an alien intent on destroying planet Earth, leading to the central conflict of the film as they attempt to deal with their captive.
Who directed the movie Bugonia?
Bugonia is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The 2025 film focuses on the story of two young men who kidnap a corporate CEO under the belief that she is an extraterrestrial threat to the planet.
Does Bugonia involve a kidnapping plot?
Yes, the plot of Bugonia centers on two conspiracy-obsessed young men who decide to kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company. Their motivation stems from their firm belief that she is an alien who is planning to destroy planet Earth.