Bugonia's Writer Discusses the Many Unexpected Turns of Emma Stone's Latest Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia screenwriter Will Tracy barely recalls what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, considering he crafted the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Instead of poring over the source material for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work viewed the movie a single time, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter states. “I didn’t really remember 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 fairest thing to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who kidnaps a business leader he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the same in both films, the variations are notable. For one thing, the writer re-envisioned the executive character, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a female character. (The director chose his regular partner the actress in the part.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy feels that answer is a bit not the main focus.

“I never was really concerned with the surprise element,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the movie to just be a gadget that does a single trick, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

Nevertheless, he has a lot to discuss on the topic. Our discussion with the writer covered the film’s ending and its implications, along with the methods he and the director collaborated to execute those surprises.

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers follow for the ending of Bugonia.

Therefore, is the character an alien or not an alien?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the end of this version discloses that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact alien royalty in hiding. After tricking her kidnapper Teddy (Plemons) into ending his own life using her teleportation technology, Fuller beams back up to her alien vessel.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may require several rewatches to fully understand.

“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. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” Tracy says. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this film, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

He trails off, before adding, “So she had to be aware of that in her performance.”

Designing the aliens and their vessel

After the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a quick look of her ship and fellow aliens before the film concludes. Their ship has a unique design, which the writer shares was intended to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

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

They should feel oddly somewhat tribal or primitive.

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

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and beautiful design on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy 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 conclusion of the Earth (or just humankind)

Perhaps the most significant change between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the aliens react to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying planet Earth. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler approach, with its aliens opting to eliminate all mankind, while leaving the Earth and its other inhabitants intact.

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

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. Every person are deceased where they were located just before, but the Earth continues. How viewers, are meant to make of these events is open to discussion. Is the ending of Bugonia hopeful or pessimistic? Are people doomed or worth saving? Would the world be better off in our absence?

Tracy isn’t willing to provide a clear resolution in any direction.

“Some people see it as a extremely dark ending, or a tragic ending, a hopeless outcome,” he states. “Other people see it as being a strangely hopeful or happy ending. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

The film is in limited theatrical release at present, with a broader opening on Halloween.