Bugonia's Writer Explains the Many Surprising Twists of the New Sci-Fi Film

The film screenwriter the writer doesn’t really remember what happens in Save the Green Planet!. It's a little surprising, given that he wrote the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new adaptation of the original 2003 film. Rather than studying the original script for inspiration, the writer behind his previous work watched the film once, jotted down some thoughts, and started the process.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” the screenwriter explains. “I didn’t really remember the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be slavishly following or recreating or honoring someone else's vision. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them be judged separately.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in the new version) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is largely the same in both films, the differences are notable. To start, the writer re-envisioned the lead role, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (The director cast his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The conclusions differ slightly too, in the way they address their central question: Is this person an extraterrestrial or not?

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

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he comments. “I didn't want the film to just be a gadget that performs one surprise, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has a lot to say on the subject. Our discussion with the writer covered the film’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and Lanthimos worked together to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Complete details ahead for the conclusion of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an alien or not an alien?

In brief: Yes.

Similar to in the original film, the conclusion of this version reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in hiding. Once she manipulates her kidnapper Teddy (the actor) into ending his own life using her advanced device, she transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered performance that may take multiple viewings to fully understand.

“She frequently discussed how it was the first time she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this film, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

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

Creating the Andromedons and their spaceship

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

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-type design for the spaceship, something quite organic,” Tracy says.

They should feel strangely somewhat tribal or ancient.

The aliens' attire is equally fascinating as their ship: bulbous robes made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to go against conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely somewhat tribal or basic, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy states. He notes that the director “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the notion of anything being smooth and metallic, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the world (or only humankind)

Maybe the biggest difference between Bugonia and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials respond to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by destroying the world. Bugonia adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens choosing to snuff out all mankind, while keeping the planet and its other inhabitants intact.

“My intention to do in the script was a vision of the planet post-human existence,” Tracy explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of life across the globe. All humans lie dead where they were located just before, but the Earth continues. What we, as an audience, are supposed to make of all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of Bugonia optimistic or bleak? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Would the world be improved in our absence?

The screenwriter does not wish to provide a definitive answer in any direction.

“Certain viewers find it to be a extremely dark conclusion, or a tragic finale, a despairing ending,” he states. “Different audiences see it as being a oddly optimistic or positive conclusion. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

The film is in select cinemas at present, with a broader opening on Halloween.