Bugonia's Screenwriter Details the Countless Wild Turns of Emma Stone's New Science Fiction Film

Bugonia screenwriter Will Tracy doesn’t really remember what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, since he crafted the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of analyzing the source material for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work viewed the movie once, took a few notes, and started the process.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter states. “I couldn't clearly recall the film in great detail. I didn't want to feel like I had to be slavishly following or recreating or honoring another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them be judged separately.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the same in both films, the variations are considerable. For one thing, Tracy re-envisioned the lead role, played by a man in the director's original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator the actress in the role.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they address their central question: Is this person an alien in disguise or not?

Tracy feels that resolution is somewhat not the main focus.

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he says. “I didn't want the film to just be a gadget that performs a single trick, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

Nevertheless, he has plenty to say on the topic. Our discussion with the screenwriter touched on the film’s ending and its implications, along with the methods he and Lanthimos collaborated to execute those surprises.

Warning: Complete details ahead for the ending of the movie.

Therefore, is Emma Stone an alien or not?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in the original film, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that Stone’s character, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is actually a royal extraterrestrial in hiding. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (the actor) into killing himself using her advanced device, Fuller beams back up to her alien vessel.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the 118-minute film, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex performance that may require several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“Emma talked a lot about how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people watching the movie a second time. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She knew the second time someone sees this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

He trails off, before adding, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her acting.”

Creating the aliens and their spaceship

After the CEO finally does reveal her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before the film ends. Their ship has a unique design, which the writer shares was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

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

The goal was for them to seem oddly kind of primitive or ancient.

The Andromedons’ clothing is just as interesting as their vessel: rounded dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the goal was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer states. He adds that the director “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 end of the world (or only humankind)

Perhaps the biggest difference between the new film and the original is that in the first version, the aliens react to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying the world. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler method, with its beings choosing to snuff out all human life, while leaving the planet and its other inhabitants unharmed.

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

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of existence across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were standing just before, but the Earth continues. How viewers, are meant to make of these events is open to discussion. Is the ending of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

Tracy does not wish to offer a definitive answer either way.

“Some people find it to be a extremely dark ending, or a sad finale, a hopeless ending,” he says. “Other people view it as being a strangely hopeful or happy conclusion. In my opinion there are various interpretations to read it.”

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