Bugonia's Writer Explains the Numerous Wild Turns of the Latest Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer barely recalls what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he crafted the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than studying the original script for ideas, the writer behind The Menu watched the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I watched the original the one time,” Tracy explains. “My memory was foggy on the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the identical in each movie, the variations are notable. To start, the writer rewrote the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (The director chose his regular partner the actress in the role.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is this person an alien in disguise or not?

The screenwriter believes that answer is a bit beside the point.

“I wasn't really focused on the surprise element,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the movie to just be a gadget that performs a single trick, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

Nevertheless, he has a lot to say 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: Full spoilers ahead for the conclusion of Bugonia.

Therefore, is Emma Stone an alien or not an alien?

In brief: Absolutely.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of this version reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in hiding. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, Fuller beams back up to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute film, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered performance that may require several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“Emma talked a lot about how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be aware of people viewing it again. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this film, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

Tracy pauses, before continuing, “So she had to be aware of that in her performance.”

Designing the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once Stone’s character ultimately shows her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before the film concludes. Their ship has a unique design, which Tracy reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

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

They should feel oddly kind of tribal or primitive.

The aliens' attire is just as interesting as their ship: rounded robes made from thick, woven cords. Again, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer states. He adds that the director “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the idea of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or just humanity)

Maybe the biggest difference between the new film and the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials react to their ruler's abduction and abuse by blowing up the world. This adaptation takes a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens choosing to snuff out all mankind, while leaving the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“My intention to do in the script was a vision of Earth after humanity,” Tracy says.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of existence across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were standing moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to make of all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of the film hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or worth saving? Would the world be improved in our absence?

The screenwriter does not wish to offer a clear resolution in any direction.

“Some people see it as a extremely dark ending, or a sad finale, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Other people view it as being a strangely hopeful or happy ending. In my opinion there's different ways to read it.”

The film is in limited theatrical release at present, with a wide release on Halloween.