The Writer Details the Numerous Surprising Turns of Emma Stone's New Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer barely recalls what happens in Save the Green Planet!. It's a little surprising, considering he crafted the screenplay for the director’s new reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of analyzing the original script for inspiration, the writer behind his previous work watched the movie a single time, jotted down some thoughts, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” the screenwriter explains. “I couldn't clearly recall the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the same in both films, the differences are notable. Firstly, the writer rewrote the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The conclusions vary a bit too, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is the character an alien in disguise or not really?

Tracy believes that resolution is somewhat irrelevant.

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a gadget that performs a single trick, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has a lot to say on the topic. Our discussion with the writer covered the film’s ending and its implications, along with the methods he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Full spoilers ahead for the ending of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in the original film, the end of Bugonia discloses that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named her character, is actually a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. Once she manipulates her captor Teddy (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, Fuller transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour movie, she maintains suspense through a complex performance that may require multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She talked a lot about how it was the first time she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” Tracy explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

He pauses, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her acting.”

Designing the aliens and their spaceship

Once Stone’s character ultimately shows her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before the film ends. Their vessel has a unique design, which the writer reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

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

They should feel strangely kind of primitive or ancient.

The aliens' attire is equally fascinating as their vessel: bulbous robes made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy says. He notes that the director “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being sleek and silver, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The conclusion of the world (or only humanity)

Maybe the biggest difference between the new film and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens react to their leader's kidnapping and mistreatment by destroying planet Earth. Bugonia takes a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all mankind, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures unharmed.

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

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the planet. All humans are deceased where they were located moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are supposed to make of these events is open to discussion. Is the ending of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people doomed or worth saving? Is the planet be improved in our absence?

Tracy does not wish to offer a definitive answer in any direction.

“Certain viewers find it to be a very bleak conclusion, or a sad ending, a despairing outcome,” he states. “Other people view it as being a strangely hopeful or positive ending. In my opinion there are various interpretations to understand it.”

The film is in limited theatrical release at present, with a broader opening on Oct. 31.