The Screenwriter Discusses the Many Unexpected Twists of the New Science Fiction Movie

Bugonia screenwriter the writer doesn’t really remember what happens in the original Korean movie. This is somewhat unexpected, considering he wrote the script for the director’s latest adaptation of the original 2003 film. Rather than studying the original script for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu watched the film once, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet the one time,” the screenwriter explains. “I didn’t really remember the film in great detail. I didn't want to feel like I had to be slavishly following or remaking or honoring someone else's vision. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (the actor in the new version) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is pretty much the same in each movie, the variations are significant. For one thing, the writer rewrote the lead role, played by a man in the director's original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner the actress in the role.) The conclusions differ slightly as well, in the way they tackle their central question: Is this person an alien in disguise or not?

The screenwriter believes that resolution is somewhat beside the point.

“I wasn't really concerned with the twist aspect,” he comments. “I didn't want the film to just be a toy that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

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

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

Therefore, is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not?

In brief: Absolutely.

Just like in the original film, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that Stone’s character, 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 Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered portrayal that may require several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“She talked a lot about how it was the initial instance she had to act where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She was aware the second time someone sees this film, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

He trails off, before continuing, “So she had to be aware this awareness in her acting.”

Designing the aliens and their vessel

After the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and fellow aliens before the film concludes. Their ship has a distinct appearance, which Tracy reveals was meant to look like a sea creature while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

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

They should feel oddly somewhat primitive or primitive.

The Andromedons’ attire is equally fascinating as their vessel: bulbous dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy says. He notes that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the idea of anything being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the world (or only humankind)

Maybe the biggest difference between the new film and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up the world. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler method, with its beings opting to eliminate all human life, while leaving the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

“My intention to achieve in the script was a depiction of Earth after humanity,” Tracy explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of life across the planet. Every person are deceased where they were located just before, but the world continues. What we, as an audience, are meant to make of these events is open to discussion. Is the ending of Bugonia hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or worth saving? Would the world be improved in our absence?

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

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark ending, or a sad finale, a despairing outcome,” he states. “Other people see it as being a oddly hopeful or happy ending. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

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