Bugonia's Writer Details the Countless Wild Twists of Emma Stone's New Sci-Fi Movie

Bugonia screenwriter Will Tracy doesn’t really remember what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, considering he crafted the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Instead of poring over the original script for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work watched the film once, jotted down some thoughts, and started the process.

“I’ve only seen the original the one time,” the screenwriter states. “My memory was foggy on the film all that well. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who kidnaps a business leader he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the identical in each movie, the variations are significant. Firstly, the writer rewrote the lead role, originally male in the director's first version, as a female character. (The director cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the part.) The endings differ slightly as well, in the way they tackle their central question: Is the character an alien in disguise or not really?

The screenwriter believes that answer is somewhat not the main focus.

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

However, Tracy has plenty to say on the topic. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers follow for the conclusion of Bugonia.

Therefore, is the character an alien or not?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of this version reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact alien royalty in hiding. After tricking her captor Teddy (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a proof to her performance. Throughout the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may require several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma talked a lot about how it was the initial instance she had to act where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this movie, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

He trails off, before adding, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her acting.”

Designing the Andromedons and their vessel

After Stone’s character finally does reveal her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and fellow aliens before the film ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was meant to look like a sea creature while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

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

They should feel strangely kind of primitive or ancient.

The aliens' clothing is equally fascinating as their vessel: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the goal was to go against conventional science fiction.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely somewhat tribal or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and beautiful design on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy states. He notes that the director “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the notion of anything being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or only humanity)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials react to their ruler's abduction and abuse by blowing up the world. This adaptation adopts a somewhat more nuanced method, with its aliens opting to snuff out all human life, while leaving the planet and its remaining creatures intact.

“My intention to do in the screenplay was a depiction of Earth after humanity,” the writer says.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of life across the globe. Every person lie dead where they were located just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to make of all this is up for debate. Is the ending of the film optimistic or bleak? Are people doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be improved without us?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to offer a clear resolution in any direction.

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark ending, or a sad ending, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Other people see it as being a strangely hopeful or happy conclusion. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

Bugonia is in limited theatrical release now, with a wide release on Oct. 31.