The Writer Discusses the Numerous Wild Turns of Emma Stone's Latest Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer has a hazy memory of what happens in Save the Green Planet!. It's a little surprising, given that he crafted the screenplay for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than analyzing the original script for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work viewed the movie once, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I watched Save the Green Planet the one time,” the screenwriter says. “I couldn't clearly recall the movie in great detail. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or recreating or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them be judged separately.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who kidnaps a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the same in each movie, the differences are significant. To start, the writer rewrote the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a female character. (Lanthimos chose his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the role.) The conclusions differ slightly too, in the way they address their central question: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy feels that resolution is somewhat beside the point.

“I never was really concerned with the twist aspect,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a toy that does one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

Nevertheless, he has a lot to discuss on the subject. The interview with the screenwriter touched on Bugonia’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and Lanthimos collaborated to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Complete details follow for the ending of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an alien or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of this version discloses that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in hiding. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (Plemons) into ending his own life using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour film, 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 first time she had to act where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She knew the second time someone sees this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

Tracy trails off, before continuing, “So she had to be aware of that in her acting.”

Creating the aliens and their spaceship

After Stone’s character finally does reveal her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before the film ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which Tracy shares was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-type design for the spaceship, something very natural,” Tracy says.

They should feel strangely kind of primitive or ancient.

The Andromedons’ clothing is equally fascinating as their ship: bulbous dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to go against conventional science fiction.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely somewhat primitive or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer says. He notes that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the notion of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the Earth (or only humankind)

Perhaps the biggest difference between the new film and Save the Green Planet is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up planet Earth. This adaptation takes a somewhat more nuanced method, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all mankind, while keeping the planet and its other inhabitants unharmed.

“What I wanted to do in the screenplay was a vision of Earth post-human existence,” the writer says.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans are deceased where they were located moments earlier, but the Earth continues. How viewers, are supposed to make of all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film optimistic or pessimistic? Are people fated to perish or worth saving? 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 very bleak ending, or a tragic ending, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly optimistic or positive conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

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