Bugonia's Writer Explains the Countless Unexpected Twists of Emma Stone's Latest Science Fiction Film

Bugonia screenwriter Will Tracy has a hazy memory of what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. It's a little surprising, considering he penned the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new adaptation of the original 2003 film. Rather than studying the source material for ideas, the screenwriter behind The Menu watched the film once, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter states. “My memory was foggy on the movie in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel like I had to be slavishly following or recreating or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in the new version) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is pretty much the identical in each movie, the differences are considerable. For one thing, Tracy re-envisioned the lead role, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner Emma Stone in the part.) The endings differ slightly as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is this person an alien in disguise or not?

The screenwriter feels that answer is a bit irrelevant.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” he says. “I didn't want the movie to just be a toy that performs 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 subject. Our discussion with the writer covered Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details ahead for the conclusion of the movie.

So is Emma Stone an alien or not?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Just like in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of Bugonia discloses that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. After tricking her kidnapper the unstable man (the actor) into killing himself using her advanced device, Fuller transports to her alien vessel.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour movie, she maintains suspense through a complex portrayal that may require several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” the writer explains. "She knew the second time a person watches this film, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

Tracy trails off, before adding, “So she had to be aware of that in her performance.”

Creating the Andromedons and their vessel

After Stone’s character finally does reveal her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

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

They should feel strangely somewhat primitive or primitive.

The aliens' clothing is equally fascinating as their ship: rounded dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the aim was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat tribal or basic, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer states. He notes that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the notion of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the world (or only humankind)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens react to their leader's kidnapping and mistreatment by destroying planet Earth. Bugonia adopts a slightly subtler approach, with its beings opting to eliminate all human life, while keeping the planet and its other inhabitants unharmed.

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

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of existence across the globe. All humans are deceased where they were standing moments earlier, but the Earth continues. What we, as an audience, are supposed to interpret all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of Bugonia hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity fated to perish or worth saving? Would the world be improved without us?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to provide a clear resolution either way.

“Certain viewers find it to be a very bleak conclusion, or a sad finale, a despairing outcome,” he states. “Other people view it as being a oddly optimistic or happy ending. In my opinion there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in select cinemas at present, with a wide release on Halloween.