Why is “Bugonia” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “bloody violent content including a suicide, grisly images and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene, some partial nudity, a chemical castration, a man shooting himself in the head with a lot of blood and gore, a man being blown up with a lot of blood and gore, a man being stung by bees and beaten to death with a shovel, a woman being injected with a chemical that kills her, discussions of opioid addiction, discussions of an alien invasion of Earth, several heated arguments, and at least 44 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Two men (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) kidnap a high-powered business executive (Emma Stone) thinking that she is actually an alien sent from her home world to destroy Earth. Also with J. Carmen Galindez Barrera, Marc T. Lewis, Vanessa Eng, Cedric Dumornay, Alicia Silverstone and Stavros Halkias. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. A few lines of dialogue are spoken in an unidentified language with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:58]

Bugonia SEX/NUDITY 3

 – Two nude dead people lie in bed (sex is implied); we see bare backs, legs, buttocks and a partial chest.
► A man apologizes to another man about something he did to him when he used to babysit for him; it is implied that he is referring to sexual molestation. A man describes bees pollinating and says, “It’s like sex, but cleaner and nobody gets hurt.” A man tells another man, “No whacking it.”
► Two men embrace and jump around laughing in celebration.
► A man injects another man with a chemical castration drug and we see the man’s partial bare buttock. A woman exercises doing yoga poses, stretches and running on a treadmill wearing tight-fitting clothing. A woman lies in a tub and we see her bare shoulders (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman wears a towel wrapped around her, under her arms after bathing and we see her bare shoulders, cleavage and legs to the upper thighs. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. Several nude dead men sit in a sauna (we see bare chests, abdomens, legs and partial buttocks).

Bugonia VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A man engages explosives strapped to his abdomen and enters a closet where the explosives detonate and he is blown up; the door blows open and his severed head is thrown out hitting a woman standing nearby (we see the head with blood and matter at the neck). A man shoots himself in the head (blood sprays over a woman and the walls around him and he collapses dead in a puddle of blood). A man throws bees at another man and the man falls to the ground writhing as bees presumably sting him; the other man then beats him to death with a shovel. A woman in a hospital bed with a feeding tube and IVs dies when a chemical is put in her IV (she thrashes and flatlines).
► A woman is strapped into a chair and electrodes are placed on her head and a cloth is seen in her mouth; a man initiates electric charges that zap her with up to 400V and she screams loudly while another man tries to make the man stop saying that he is going to kill her (lights flicker and fuses spark and the woman’s mouth bleeds). Two men wearing masks sneak up on a woman when she gets out of her car; she punches one man knocking him out, fights with the other man who sprays her in the face with something, he chases her, they wrestle on the ground in shrubs and the woman runs away but collapses after having been injected with a sedative (we see the hypodermic needle in her leg). A man slaps a woman hard in the face. A man holds a woman at gunpoint and hits her hard in the knee (we see the kneecap has been dislocated and she moves it back into place; we hear a squish and see it moving under the flesh).
► A man and a woman argue and the man yells and charges across a tabletop to tackle her out of her chair and strangles her; another man holds a gun on the first man, tells him to stop and the woman stabs him in the arm with a fork (we see blood on his sleeve later), the man lets go and the woman wraps a belt around the man’s neck and starts to strangle him until the other man hits her in the head with the gun butt and she collapses unconscious.
► A man becomes angry, slams a chair on the floor and then throws it toward a woman. A woman practices self-defense with a man and punches, kicks and elbows him repeatedly (they wear gloves and he wears protective pads). A man holds a shotgun on his lap. A woman in the back of an ambulance gets up and jumps out of the vehicle; she walks away with a limp.
► Many dead bodies without injuries or gore are shown in various locations; some dead fish are seen in a market with blood around them, and a person in an operating room with blood in a tube and on gloves. A woman enters a private room and we see body parts, dead bodies, blood smears and splatters, and a head in a jar. A woman lies in a tub and we see many very long needles sticking out of her body as she describes a treatment that she is undergoing; we then see the woman levitating above the tub. A woman is restrained by the ankles and wrists to a cot and we see her lying unconscious. A man shaves a woman’s head and two men slather thick lotion on her head, face and legs. A man tells a woman that he will not feel bad about “gutting” her because she killed his family and his co-workers. A man apologizes to another man about something he did to him when he used to babysit for him; it is implied that he is referring to sexual molestation. A car rocks back and forth as we hear yelling coming from inside; a man gets out of the car and seems upset. A man holds cables that are attached to an unconscious woman floating in the air. A needle is poked into a bubble that pops over a dimensional map of Earth.
► A man tells a woman that they are following human rights guidelines during her kidnapping. A man describes aliens trying to kill humans by poisoning and choking us out. A woman records an announcement about unpleasant incidents in an office and refers to corporate culture. A man describes beehives wasting away after bees abandon their queen and fears a CCD virus. A man says that something will “wheedle into your brain box.” A police officer pulls a man riding a bicycle on a road over and they talk.
► Two men burn a woman’s hair and her cell phone. A man asks to use the bathroom a couple of times and is told to wait. A woman moves through a pool of milky liquid and is helped out by someone at the side of the pool.

Bugonia LANGUAGE 9

 – About 44 F-words, 22 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (harmless, hopeless, stupid, loser, alien filth, crazy, miserable, demon from [mild obscenity deleted], idiot, evil, weird, ploy, sick, mentally ill, maniac, weak, sick ape, broken, activism thing, warped sense of reality), exclamations (crushed it, shut-up), 5 religious exclamations. (e.g. Jesus Christ, Jesus [F-word deleted] Christ, oh my God, God knows what). | profanity glossary |

Bugonia SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man injects another man with what he says is a chemical castration drug, a woman is injected with a sedative, and a woman takes an unidentified prescription pill while driving. A man tells another man that he cannot vape.

Bugonia DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Bees, pesticides, CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) virus, viruses, thermonuclear war, genocide, playing fair, alien invasion, humans, activism, chemical castration, opioid addiction, child abuse, distraction, procreation, self-destruction, monogamy, diversity, resistance, resolve, remorse, mind control, power, OSHA, kidnapping, optics, truth, reverse aging, emotional manipulation, self-worth.

Bugonia MESSAGE

 – The prospect of aliens on Earth can be frightening.