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Bugonia ending explained: Was Teddy right about Michelle?

Bugonia tells the story of a conspiracy theorist abducting a CEO, believing her to be an alien. However, things turn out wilder than his expectations.
posted by Sudipta Sinha
Saturday 11/1/2025 at 4:33AM EDT
  • A scene from Bugonia (Image via YouTube/@UniversalPicturesCanada)
    A scene from Bugonia (Image via YouTube/@UniversalPicturesCanada)

    Bugonia, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, is based on the 2003 South Korean sci-fi thriller Save the Green Planet! by Jang Joon-hwan. Widely released on October 31, 2025, after making the rounds of festival circuits, it is the fourth feature film collaboration between the director and actor Emma Stone. 

    The narrative follows Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons), a warehouse worker and beekeeper, who believes pharmaceutical megacorporation CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) is an alien, one of the advance scouts for an invading extraterrestrial force. With the help of his neurodivergent cousin Don (Aidan Delbis), Teddy kidnaps Michelle and keeps her locked up in his basement, with the intention of forcing her to divulge the truth.

    Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for Bugonia. Reader's discretion is advised.

    While Teddy's claims appear to be the ramblings of a madman at first, it is later revealed that he has been right about Michelle all along. Michelle turns out to be the empress of the Andromeda aliens, an extraterrestrial species that looks like humans but communicates through their hair. She even has a teleporter hidden inside her office closet.

    Why did Teddy decide to abduct Michelle?

    In Bugonia, Teddy’s obsession with Michelle stems from more than his belief that she is an alien; it’s deeply personal. Years before the events of the film, Teddy’s mother participated in a drug trial conducted by Michelle’s pharmaceutical company, which ended in tragedy when the drug caused severe reactions, killing several participants and leaving others, including his mother, comatose.

    Despite the company offering financial compensation and continued medical care, Teddy’s anger festers over time, fueling his hatred toward Michelle and pushing him toward violence. This backstory adds a political layer to Bugonia, highlighting the ethical and human toll of corporate negligence within the pharmaceutical industry. 

    Teddy’s conviction that only an inhuman alien could commit such acts mirrors real-world frustrations with corporate greed and systemic indifference. Yet, his descent into moral corruption—experimenting on others as his mother once was—reveals a haunting irony that blurs the line between victim and perpetrator.

    What was Michelle's purpose in life?

    When Michelle ultimately opens up about being an extraterrestrial living among humans as the head of a giant pharmaceutical company, she tells Teddy all about Andromedans and their objective on Earth. It was apparently the arrival of the alien race on the planet that wiped out the dinosaurs in prehistoric times. To make up for the extinction event, Andromedans created the human race. 

    While the aliens wished to exist in harmony, a subpopulation of the wicked and violent human race rose to power and spread across the globe. The Andromedans thus decided to undertake damage control by creating a drug that could temper the dark and evil tendencies of humans. As the CEO of Auxolith, Michelle's goal has been to achieve this from the very beginning. 

    How does it end for Teddy and his cousin?

    In Bugonia, Teddy and his cousin Don meet tragic ends as a result of their crusade against Michelle. Teddy’s obsession with proving Michelle’s alien identity drives him to extreme measures, including torture and violence. When Michelle finally agrees to take him to the Andromedan mothership, Teddy prepares for possible retaliation by strapping on a suicide vest. However, his paranoia seals his fate—upon entering the transporter, the vest detonates, killing him instantly and scattering his remains. 

    Don, who loyally follows Teddy’s orders throughout the ordeal, succumbs earlier than his cousin. As Michelle appeals to his good sense to set her free in the face of Teddy’s inhuman torture, Don finds it beyond himself to cope with the violence surrounding him as well as to betray Teddy. He thus puts a gun to his mouth and kills himself. 

    Ultimately, their actions seal the fate of humanity, as Michelle returns to the mothership and decides humanity is beyond saving from itself. She thus pops the bubble of a small diorama of Earth, leading to all people across the globe dropping dead at once, and other life forms living unharmed.

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    TOPICS: Bugonia ending explained, Bugonia