Bugonia's Writer Details the Countless Wild Twists of the Latest Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia writer Will Tracy barely recalls what happens in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, considering he crafted the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than analyzing the original script for inspiration, the writer behind The Menu watched the movie once, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I watched Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter states. “I couldn't clearly recall the film all that well. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or recreating or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in the new version) who kidnaps a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the identical in both films, the variations are notable. For one thing, the writer re-envisioned the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner the actress in the role.) The conclusions vary a bit as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

Tracy believes that answer is somewhat 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 toy that does a single trick, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, he has a lot to say on the topic. The interview with the screenwriter touched on the film’s ending and its implications, along with the ways he and the director collaborated to execute those surprises.

Warning: Complete details follow for the conclusion of the movie.

So is the character an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of Bugonia discloses that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in disguise. After tricking her kidnapper Teddy (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a layered portrayal that may take several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma talked a lot about how it was the initial instance 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 think,” the writer explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this film, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

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

Designing the aliens and their spaceship

Once the CEO ultimately shows 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 shares was intended to look like a sea creature while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

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

They should feel strangely somewhat tribal or ancient.

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

“Regarding the attire, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat tribal or basic, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer says. He notes that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the notion of any element being sleek and silver, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the world (or only humanity)

Maybe the biggest difference between Bugonia 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 adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its beings opting to eliminate all mankind, while leaving the Earth and its other inhabitants intact.

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

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to interpret all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film optimistic or pessimistic? Are people fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

Tracy isn’t willing to provide a definitive answer in any direction.

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark ending, or a sad ending, a despairing ending,” he says. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly optimistic or happy conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

Bugonia is in select cinemas now, with a wide release on Halloween.