Bugonia's Screenwriter Details the Many Surprising Twists of Emma Stone's New Sci-Fi Film

The film writer Will Tracy barely recalls what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he penned the script for the director’s new reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than analyzing the source material for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu watched the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet the one time,” Tracy explains. “My memory was foggy on the film all that well. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who abducts a business leader he’s certain is an alien in disguise is pretty much the same in each movie, the differences are notable. For one thing, the writer rewrote the executive character, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the part.) The endings differ slightly as well, in the way they address their central question: Is this person an alien in disguise or not?

Tracy feels that resolution is somewhat beside the point.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the movie to just be a gadget that does one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, he has plenty to discuss on the topic. Our discussion with the writer touched on Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director collaborated to execute those surprises.

Warning: Complete details ahead for the conclusion of Bugonia.

So is the character an alien or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the end of this version reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named her character, is actually alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates her captor Teddy (the actor) into ending his own life using her advanced device, she transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour film, she maintains suspense through a complex performance that may take multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She talked a lot about how it was the first time she had to act where she felt she had to be aware of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to think,” Tracy explains. "She knew the second time a person watches this film, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

He trails off, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect this awareness in her performance.”

Designing the Andromedons and their vessel

After Stone’s character finally does reveal her true nature, we get a quick look of her ship and fellow aliens before the film ends. Their ship has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was intended to look like a marine animal while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something very natural,” Tracy comments.

They should feel strangely kind of primitive or ancient.

The aliens' attire is equally fascinating as their ship: rounded dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Once more, the aim was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy says. He adds that the director “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the notion of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the Earth (or just humanity)

Perhaps the most significant change between the new film and the original is that in the first version, the aliens respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying the world. Bugonia adopts a slightly subtler approach, with its aliens choosing to snuff out all human life, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

“What I wanted to achieve in the screenplay was a vision of Earth after humanity,” Tracy says.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the globe. Every person are deceased where they were standing moments earlier, but the world continues. How viewers, are supposed to interpret these events is up for debate. Does the conclusion of the film optimistic or pessimistic? Are people fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be improved without us?

Tracy isn’t willing to offer a clear resolution either way.

“Some people see it as a very bleak ending, or a sad ending, a hopeless ending,” he says. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly hopeful or happy ending. In my opinion there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in select cinemas at present, with a broader opening on Oct. 31.