Bugonia's Writer Details the Many Surprising Twists of Emma Stone's New Sci-Fi Film

The film screenwriter Will Tracy doesn’t really remember what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, given that he penned the script for the director’s new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of poring over the source material for ideas, the writer behind his previous work viewed the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and got to work.

“I watched the original the one time,” the screenwriter says. “I didn’t really remember the movie in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or remaking or honoring someone else's vision. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them be judged separately.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the same in both films, the differences are notable. Firstly, Tracy re-envisioned the executive character, played by a man in the director's original, as a female character. (The director chose his regular partner Emma Stone in the part.) The endings differ slightly as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy believes that resolution is somewhat irrelevant.

“I never was really focused on the surprise element,” he says. “I didn't want the movie to just be a toy that performs one surprise, 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. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s finale and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Full spoilers ahead for the conclusion of the movie.

Therefore, is the character an alien or not?

In brief: Yes.

Similar to in the original film, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. After tricking her captor Teddy (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, she transports to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute film, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered portrayal that may require several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma frequently discussed 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 think,” the writer says. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

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

Designing the aliens and their vessel

After Stone’s character ultimately shows her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before the film ends. Their ship has a distinct appearance, which Tracy shares was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

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

They should feel oddly somewhat tribal or primitive.

The aliens' clothing is equally fascinating as their ship: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the aim was to go against conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also quite ornate and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer says. He notes that the director “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the idea of any element being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or just humanity)

Maybe the most significant change between the new film and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying the world. Bugonia adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its beings choosing to snuff out all human life, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“What I wanted to achieve in the script was a depiction of Earth post-human existence,” Tracy says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans are deceased where they were located moments earlier, but the world continues. How viewers, are meant to make of these events is up for debate. Is the ending of Bugonia hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity fated to perish or worth saving? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to offer a definitive answer in any direction.

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark conclusion, or a tragic finale, a hopeless outcome,” he says. “Other people see it as being a oddly hopeful or happy ending. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

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