Bugonia's Writer Details the Numerous Surprising Twists of Emma Stone's Latest Sci-Fi Film

The film writer Will Tracy has a hazy memory of what happens in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, given that he crafted the screenplay for the director’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of studying the source material for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu viewed the movie once, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I watched the original once,” the screenwriter states. “I couldn't clearly recall the movie all that well. My aim wasn't to feel like I had to be slavishly following or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them exist independently.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (the actor in the new version) who kidnaps a business leader he’s certain is an alien in disguise is largely the identical in each movie, the variations are significant. To start, the writer re-envisioned the executive character, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a female character. (The director chose his frequent collaborator the actress in the role.) The endings differ slightly as well, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

Tracy feels that resolution is somewhat irrelevant.

“I never was really concerned with the surprise element,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a toy that performs a single trick, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

However, he has plenty to say on the subject. The interview with the screenwriter touched on Bugonia’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Full spoilers ahead for the ending of the movie.

Therefore, is the character an alien or not an alien?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in the original film, the end of this version reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. After tricking her captor Teddy (the actor) into ending his own life using her advanced device, Fuller transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to her performance. During the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a complex performance that may require multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” the writer says. "She was aware the second time a person watches this film, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

He pauses, before continuing, “So she had to be aware this awareness in her performance.”

Creating the Andromedons and their spaceship

After Stone’s character finally does reveal her true nature, we get a quick look of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia concludes. Their ship has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was intended to look like a sea creature while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something quite organic,” he comments.

They should feel strangely somewhat primitive or ancient.

The aliens' clothing is equally fascinating as their ship: bulbous dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy states. He adds that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the idea of anything being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or only humankind)

Maybe the biggest difference between the new film and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying planet Earth. Bugonia adopts a slightly subtler approach, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all human life, while keeping the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“My intention to do in the screenplay was a vision of Earth post-human existence,” the writer says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to interpret these events is up for debate. Does the conclusion of Bugonia hopeful or bleak? Is humanity fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

Tracy does not wish to provide a clear resolution either way.

“Some people find it to be a very bleak ending, or a tragic ending, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Other people view it as being a strangely optimistic or positive conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is in select cinemas now, with a wide release on Halloween.