Bugonia's Screenwriter Details the Countless Unexpected Twists of the Latest Sci-Fi Movie

The film writer Will Tracy barely recalls what transpires in the original Korean movie. It's a little surprising, since he penned the script for the director’s new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than poring over the original script for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu watched the film a single time, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I watched Save the Green Planet once,” Tracy explains. “My memory was foggy on the movie in great detail. I didn't want 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 be judged separately.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in Bugonia) who kidnaps a business leader he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the same in both films, the differences are considerable. For one thing, the writer rewrote the executive character, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The conclusions vary a bit as well, in the way they address their central question: Is the character an alien in disguise or not?

The screenwriter feels that resolution is a bit beside the point.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a toy that does one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

Nevertheless, he has plenty to say on the topic. Our discussion with the writer covered 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: Complete details follow for the ending of the movie.

Therefore, is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not?

In brief: Yes.

Similar to in the original film, the end of Bugonia discloses that Stone’s character, a pharmaceutical executive named her character, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. After tricking her captor Teddy (the actor) into killing himself using her advanced device, Fuller beams back up to her alien vessel.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered portrayal that may take multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed how it was the first time 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 think,” the writer explains. "She was aware the second time a person watches this film, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

Tracy pauses, before adding, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect this awareness in her acting.”

Designing the aliens and their spaceship

After Stone’s character finally does reveal her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and other extraterrestrials before the film ends. Their ship has a unique design, which Tracy shares 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 quite organic,” he says.

They should feel oddly somewhat tribal or ancient.

The Andromedons’ attire is equally fascinating as their vessel: rounded robes made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely somewhat primitive or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” the writer states. 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 just humanity)

Maybe the most significant change between the new film and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials react to their leader's kidnapping and mistreatment by destroying the world. This adaptation adopts a slightly subtler method, with its beings choosing to eliminate all human life, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

“What I wanted to achieve in the screenplay was a depiction of the planet after humanity,” the writer says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the globe. All humans are deceased where they were located just before, but the Earth continues. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret all this is up for debate. Is the ending of the film optimistic or bleak? Are people fated to perish or worth saving? Is the planet be better off without us?

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

“Some people see it as a extremely dark conclusion, or a tragic ending, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Other people view it as being a oddly hopeful or happy conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in limited theatrical release at present, with a wide release on Oct. 31.