Bugonia's Screenwriter Explains the Numerous Surprising Twists of Emma Stone's New Science Fiction Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer barely recalls what happens in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he crafted the script for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than studying the source material for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu watched the film once, jotted down some thoughts, and got to work.

“I watched the original the one time,” the screenwriter states. “I couldn't clearly recall the movie in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is pretty much the identical in each movie, the variations are notable. Firstly, Tracy rewrote the executive character, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a female character. (Lanthimos chose his regular partner the actress in the part.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their central question: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

The screenwriter believes that answer is a bit irrelevant.

“I wasn't really focused on the twist aspect,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a gadget that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has plenty to discuss on the topic. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s ending and its implications, along with the methods he and the director collaborated to bring those twists to life.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details ahead for the ending of the movie.

Therefore, is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not?

In brief: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of this version discloses that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in disguise. After tricking her captor Teddy (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a testament to her performance. Throughout the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered portrayal that may require multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed 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. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She was aware the second time a person watches this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

Tracy trails off, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her performance.”

Creating the aliens and their spaceship

Once the CEO ultimately shows her true nature, we get a quick look of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before the film concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was intended to look like a sea creature while avoiding high-tech visuals.

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

They should feel strangely kind of primitive or ancient.

The aliens' clothing is just as interesting as their vessel: bulbous dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Once more, the aim was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer states. He adds that the director “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the idea 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 the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their ruler's abduction and abuse by destroying planet Earth. Bugonia takes a somewhat more nuanced method, with its beings opting to snuff out all human life, while keeping the Earth and its other inhabitants intact.

“My intention to do in the script was a vision of Earth post-human existence,” Tracy explains.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were located just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to make of these events is up for debate. Does the conclusion of Bugonia optimistic or bleak? Are people doomed or worth saving? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

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

“Certain viewers find it to be a extremely dark conclusion, or a sad ending, a despairing ending,” he says. “Other people see it as being a strangely optimistic or positive ending. In my opinion there's different ways to understand it.”

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