Bugonia's Screenwriter Explains the Many Wild Twists of Emma Stone's New Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer has a hazy memory of what happens in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, since he crafted the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of studying the source material for ideas, the writer behind The Menu watched the movie once, took a few notes, and started the process.

“I’ve only seen the original the one time,” the screenwriter states. “I didn’t really remember the film all that well. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them exist independently.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in Bugonia) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is mostly the identical in both films, the variations are significant. To start, the writer rewrote the lead role, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (The director cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the part.) The conclusions vary a bit as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is this person an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy believes that answer is somewhat beside the point.

“I wasn't really concerned with the twist aspect,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the movie to just be a toy that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has a lot to discuss on the topic. The interview with the writer covered Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and Lanthimos collaborated to bring those twists to life.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details follow for the ending of the movie.

So is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Just like in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that Stone’s character, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is actually a royal extraterrestrial in hiding. After tricking her captor the unstable man (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her alien vessel.

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 portrayal that may require multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to act where she felt she had to be aware of people watching the movie a second time. How those rewatching are going to think,” Tracy explains. "She was aware the second time a person watches this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

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

Creating the Andromedons and their vessel

Once the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and fellow aliens before the film ends. Their ship has a unique design, which Tracy reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

“[The director] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the spaceship, something very natural,” Tracy says.

They should feel oddly kind of tribal or ancient.

The Andromedons’ clothing is just as interesting as their ship: rounded dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Once more, the goal was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely kind of tribal or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy says. He notes that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or only humankind)

Maybe the most significant change between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials respond to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by destroying the world. This adaptation adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens opting to eliminate all human life, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

“What I wanted to do in the script was a depiction of Earth post-human existence,” the writer explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of life across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were standing just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to interpret all this is up for debate. Does the conclusion of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be improved in our absence?

Tracy isn’t willing to offer a definitive answer in any direction.

“Some people see it as a very bleak ending, or a tragic finale, a despairing ending,” he says. “Other people view it as being a oddly optimistic or happy ending. In my opinion there's different ways to read it.”

The film is currently in limited theatrical release now, with a broader opening on Oct. 31.