The Writer Discusses the Many Surprising Turns of the New Science Fiction Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer barely recalls what happens in the original Korean movie. It's a little surprising, given that he crafted the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than poring over the source material for ideas, the writer behind The Menu viewed the movie a single time, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I watched the original the one time,” the screenwriter says. “I couldn't clearly recall the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the identical in each movie, the differences are significant. To start, Tracy re-envisioned the executive character, originally male in the director's original, as a female character. (The director cast his regular partner the actress in the part.) The endings vary a bit too, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is this person an extraterrestrial or not really?

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

“I never was really focused on the surprise element,” he comments. “I didn't want the movie to just be a toy that does one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has plenty 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 the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers ahead for the conclusion of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Just like in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates her captor Teddy (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

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

“She talked a lot about 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 think,” the writer says. "She was aware the second time a person watches this movie, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

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

Creating the Andromedons and their vessel

Once Stone’s character ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and other extraterrestrials before the film ends. Their ship has a unique design, which the writer reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

“[The director] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something quite organic,” he comments.

They should feel strangely somewhat primitive or ancient.

The aliens' attire is equally fascinating as their vessel: bulbous robes made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to go against conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually kind of tribal or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” the writer states. He notes that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end 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 extraterrestrials react to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by blowing up planet Earth. This adaptation adopts a slightly subtler approach, with its beings choosing to eliminate all human life, while keeping the Earth and its other inhabitants intact.

“My intention to achieve in the script was a depiction of the planet post-human existence,” the writer says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret these events is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity fated to perish or worth saving? Would the world be improved without us?

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

“Some people find it to be a extremely dark ending, or a sad ending, a hopeless outcome,” he says. “Other people view it as being a oddly optimistic or happy conclusion. In my opinion there's different ways to understand it.”

The film is in limited theatrical release now, with a wide release on Oct. 31.