The Writer Details the Many Wild Twists of Emma Stone's New Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer doesn’t really remember what transpires in the original Korean movie. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he penned the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than studying the original script for inspiration, the writer behind his previous work watched the movie once, took a few notes, and started the process.

“I’ve only seen the original the one time,” the screenwriter says. “I didn’t really remember the movie all that well. My aim wasn't to feel like I had to be slavishly following or recreating or honoring another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who kidnaps a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is pretty much the identical in both films, the differences are considerable. To start, Tracy rewrote the executive character, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (The director chose his regular partner Emma Stone in the part.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is this person an alien in disguise or not really?

The screenwriter believes that answer is a bit beside the point.

“I never was really concerned with the surprise element,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for 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 a lot to discuss on the subject. The interview with the screenwriter covered Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the methods he and the director collaborated to execute those surprises.

Warning: Full spoilers ahead for the conclusion of Bugonia.

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

In brief: Yes.

Just like in Save the Green Planet, the end of this version discloses that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in disguise. After tricking her kidnapper the unstable man (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, Fuller beams back up to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a testament to her performance. During the 118-minute film, she maintains suspense through a layered portrayal that may take several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed how it was the initial instance 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 perceive,” the writer explains. "She knew the second time someone sees this film, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

He pauses, before continuing, “So she had to be aware of that in her performance.”

Creating the aliens and their spaceship

Once Stone’s character ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and fellow aliens before the film concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which Tracy reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-type design for the spaceship, something very natural,” he says.

They should feel oddly kind of tribal or ancient.

The Andromedons’ attire is equally fascinating as their ship: rounded robes made from thick, woven cords. Again, the goal was to go against conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually kind of primitive or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy says. He adds that the director “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the idea of anything being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or just humankind)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the aliens respond to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up planet Earth. Bugonia adopts a slightly subtler method, with its aliens choosing to snuff out all human life, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

“My intention to do in the screenplay was a depiction of Earth post-human existence,” the writer explains.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of existence across the globe. All humans lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the world continues. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Are people doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be better off without us?

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

“Some people find it to be a extremely dark ending, or a tragic ending, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Other people view it as being a strangely hopeful or happy ending. I think there's different ways to read it.”

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