Bugonia's Screenwriter Discusses the Numerous Unexpected Turns of Emma Stone's Latest Sci-Fi Film

The film writer the writer barely recalls what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, since he wrote the screenplay for the director’s new reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than analyzing the original script for ideas, the writer behind The Menu watched the movie once, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet the one time,” the screenwriter states. “I didn’t really remember the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely 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 original, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator the actress in the role.) The conclusions differ slightly too, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is the character an alien in disguise or not?

Tracy believes that resolution is somewhat beside the point.

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

Nevertheless, he has plenty to say on the topic. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s finale and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director collaborated to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Full spoilers ahead for the conclusion of Bugonia.

So is the character an alien or not an alien?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of this version reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. After tricking her captor the unstable man (the actor) into ending his own life using her teleportation technology, Fuller beams back up to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a testament to her performance. During the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may require several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma frequently discussed how it was the first time she had to act where she felt she had to be aware of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She knew the second time a person watches this film, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

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

Designing the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and fellow aliens before the film ends. Their ship has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was intended to look like a marine animal while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something quite organic,” he says.

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

The Andromedons’ clothing is equally fascinating as their vessel: rounded robes made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely kind of tribal or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and beautiful design on those strange knit costumes,” the writer says. He adds that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the notion of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the Earth (or just humanity)

Perhaps the most significant change between Bugonia and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens respond to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up the world. This adaptation takes a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens opting to eliminate all human life, while keeping the Earth and its other inhabitants unharmed.

“What I wanted to do in the screenplay was a vision of the planet after humanity,” the writer explains.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of life across the globe. All humans are deceased where they were located just before, but the world keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to interpret all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of Bugonia hopeful or pessimistic? Are people doomed or deserving of rescue? Would the world be better off without us?

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

“Some people find it to be a very bleak conclusion, or a tragic finale, a despairing ending,” he says. “Different audiences see it as being a oddly hopeful or positive conclusion. In my opinion there's different ways to read it.”

The film is in limited theatrical release now, with a broader opening on Halloween.