Bugonia's Screenwriter Discusses the Numerous Surprising Turns of the Latest Sci-Fi Movie

Bugonia writer the writer has a hazy memory of what happens in the original Korean movie. This is somewhat unexpected, considering he crafted the script for the director’s latest adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of poring over the original script for inspiration, the writer behind his previous work watched the movie once, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter explains. “I couldn't clearly recall the film in great detail. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. 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 abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the same in each movie, the differences are significant. To start, Tracy re-envisioned the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner Emma Stone in the role.) The endings 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 resolution is a bit not the main focus.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” 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?”

However, he has plenty to say on the topic. Our discussion with the screenwriter covered Bugonia’s finale and its implications, along with the ways he and the director collaborated to execute those surprises.

Warning: Complete details ahead for the ending of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

In brief: Yes.

Just like in the original film, the end of this version discloses 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 killing himself using her advanced device, she transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a complex portrayal that may take several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be aware of people watching the movie a second time. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” Tracy explains. "She knew the second time a person watches this movie, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

Tracy pauses, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect this awareness in her acting.”

Creating the aliens and their vessel

Once the CEO ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which Tracy shares was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

“[The director] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-type design for the spaceship, something very natural,” he says.

They should feel oddly kind of primitive or ancient.

The aliens' attire is just as interesting as their vessel: rounded robes made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the aim was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely kind of tribal or basic, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy states. He notes that the director “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the notion of anything being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or just humanity)

Perhaps the most significant change between Bugonia and the original is that in the first version, the aliens respond to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up the world. Bugonia adopts a slightly subtler method, with its beings opting to snuff out all human life, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“What I wanted to achieve in the screenplay was a vision of Earth after humanity,” Tracy explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of life across the planet. All humans are deceased where they were standing moments earlier, but the Earth continues. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people doomed or worth saving? Is the planet be better off without us?

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

“Some people find it to be a extremely dark conclusion, or a tragic ending, a hopeless ending,” he says. “Different audiences see it as being a oddly optimistic or positive ending. In my opinion there's different ways to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in limited theatrical release at present, with a wide release on Halloween.