Bugonia's Screenwriter Discusses the Countless Wild Twists of Emma Stone's Latest Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia writer Will Tracy doesn’t really remember what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, since he crafted the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than studying the original script for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu watched the film a single time, took a few notes, and started the process.

“I watched Save the Green Planet the one time,” the screenwriter states. “I couldn't clearly recall the film all that well. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or remaking or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The fairest thing to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s certain is an alien in disguise is mostly the identical in each movie, the variations are notable. To start, the writer re-envisioned the lead role, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the part.) The conclusions vary a bit as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an alien in disguise or not really?

The screenwriter believes that answer is somewhat irrelevant.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a gadget that performs one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

Nevertheless, Tracy has plenty to say on the topic. Our discussion with the writer touched on the film’s finale and its implications, along with the ways he and Lanthimos collaborated to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Full spoilers follow for the conclusion of Bugonia.

Therefore, is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact alien royalty in hiding. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to her performance. During the two-hour film, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex performance that may take several rewatches 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 aware of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” the writer says. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

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

Designing the aliens and their vessel

After the CEO ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and fellow aliens before the film ends. Their vessel has a unique design, which the writer shares was intended to look like a sea creature while avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the spaceship, something very natural,” he comments.

They should feel strangely kind of tribal or primitive.

The Andromedons’ clothing is just as interesting as their ship: bulbous dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Again, the goal was to defy conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also quite ornate and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy states. He notes that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the notion of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or just humankind)

Perhaps the most significant change between Bugonia and the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their ruler's abduction and abuse by destroying the world. Bugonia takes a somewhat more nuanced method, with its beings opting to eliminate all mankind, while leaving the Earth and its other inhabitants intact.

“My intention to achieve in the screenplay was a vision of the planet post-human existence,” Tracy says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the world keeps spinning. How viewers, are meant to interpret all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of Bugonia optimistic or bleak? Are people fated to perish or worth saving? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

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

“Certain viewers find it to be a extremely dark ending, or a tragic finale, a hopeless ending,” he says. “Other people view it as being a oddly optimistic or positive conclusion. I think there's different ways to read it.”

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