Bugonia's Writer Explains the Many Surprising Turns of Emma Stone's New Science Fiction Movie

The film writer Will Tracy barely recalls what happens in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, given that he crafted the screenplay for the director’s new reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of studying the source material for ideas, the writer behind his previous work viewed the film a single time, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I watched the original the one time,” Tracy states. “I couldn't clearly recall the film in great detail. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to both films was to have them be judged separately.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the same in both films, the variations are significant. Firstly, the writer rewrote the executive character, played by a man in the director's first version, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner Emma Stone in the role.) The conclusions differ slightly as well, in the way they address their central question: Is this person an extraterrestrial or not really?

The screenwriter feels that answer is a bit not the main focus.

“I wasn't really concerned with the twist aspect,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the movie to just be a gadget that performs one surprise, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

Nevertheless, Tracy has plenty to discuss on the subject. Our discussion with the screenwriter touched on the film’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and Lanthimos collaborated to execute those surprises.

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

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

In brief: Yes.

Just like in the original film, the end of this version discloses that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates 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 proof to her performance. During the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a layered performance that may require 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. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

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

Creating the Andromedons and their spaceship

After Stone’s character finally does reveal her true nature, we get a quick look of her spaceship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which Tracy reveals was meant to look like a sea creature while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

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

The goal was for them to seem oddly somewhat primitive or ancient.

The aliens' clothing is just as interesting as their ship: rounded robes made from large, ropey threads. Again, the aim was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

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

The end of the Earth (or just humanity)

Perhaps the most significant change between the new film and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials react to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying the world. This adaptation takes a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all mankind, while leaving the planet and its remaining creatures intact.

“What I wanted to achieve in the script was a depiction of the planet after humanity,” the writer says.

In the film's conclusion, 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. How viewers, are supposed to make of all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of the film optimistic or bleak? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

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

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark conclusion, or a sad finale, a hopeless outcome,” he states. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly hopeful or happy ending. I think there's different ways to read it.”

The film is currently in select cinemas at present, with a wide release on Oct. 31.