The Screenwriter Explains the Numerous Wild Twists of the Latest Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia writer Will Tracy barely recalls what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, considering he wrote the screenplay for the director’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of studying the original script for ideas, the writer behind his previous work viewed the film once, jotted down some thoughts, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” the screenwriter says. “I didn’t really remember the film all that well. My aim wasn't 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 be judged separately.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the identical in each movie, the differences are notable. Firstly, Tracy re-envisioned the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a female character. (The director cast his regular partner Emma Stone in the part.) The endings vary a bit too, 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 beside the point.

“I never was really focused on the surprise element,” he comments. “I didn't want the film to just be a toy that does a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

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

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers ahead for the conclusion of the movie.

Therefore, is the character an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

Short answer: Yes.

Just like in Save the Green Planet, the end of Bugonia reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a complex performance that may take multiple viewings to fully understand.

“Emma frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to act where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” the writer explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this film, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

Tracy trails off, before continuing, “So she had to be aware this awareness in her acting.”

Designing 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 concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the spaceship, something quite organic,” he says.

They should feel strangely somewhat primitive or primitive.

The aliens' clothing is just as interesting as their vessel: rounded dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the goal was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely kind of primitive or basic, and yet also quite ornate and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” the writer states. He notes that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or just humankind)

Maybe the most significant change between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the aliens respond to their leader's kidnapping and mistreatment by blowing up the world. Bugonia adopts a slightly subtler method, with its beings opting to eliminate all mankind, while keeping the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“My intention to do in the screenplay was a vision of the planet after humanity,” the writer explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were standing moments earlier, but the Earth continues. How viewers, are meant to make of these events is up for debate. Does the conclusion of the film hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Would the world be improved without us?

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

“Certain viewers find it to be a very bleak conclusion, or a tragic finale, a hopeless outcome,” he states. “Other people view it as being a strangely optimistic or positive ending. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

The film is currently in limited theatrical release at present, with a broader opening on Halloween.