Bugonia's Screenwriter Details the Countless Unexpected Turns of the New Science Fiction Movie

The film screenwriter the writer has a hazy memory of what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. It's a little surprising, given that he crafted the script for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than analyzing the source material for inspiration, the screenwriter behind his previous work watched the film a single time, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter explains. “My memory was foggy on the film all that well. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or remaking or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them exist independently.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s certain is an alien in disguise is largely the same in each movie, the variations are notable. For one thing, Tracy re-envisioned the lead role, originally male in the director's original, as a woman. (The director chose his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the role.) The endings vary a bit too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is this person an alien in disguise or not?

The screenwriter believes that answer is a bit beside the point.

“I wasn't really focused on the surprise element,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a gadget that performs one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, he has a lot to say on the subject. Our discussion with the screenwriter touched on Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the methods he and Lanthimos collaborated to execute those surprises.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details ahead for the conclusion of the movie.

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in the original film, the conclusion of this version reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in hiding. Once she manipulates her kidnapper the unstable man (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, Fuller transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a layered performance that may require several rewatches to fully understand.

“She talked a lot about how it was the first time she had to act 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 knew the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this movie, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

He trails off, before continuing, “So she had to be aware this awareness in her performance.”

Creating the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a quick look of her ship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was intended to look like a sea creature while avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something very natural,” Tracy comments.

They should feel strangely kind of primitive or primitive.

The aliens' clothing is equally fascinating as their ship: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the aim was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely kind of primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” the writer states. He notes that the director “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the notion of any element being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or only humanity)

Maybe the most significant change between Bugonia and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying planet Earth. Bugonia adopts a slightly subtler method, with its beings choosing to snuff out all human life, while keeping the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

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

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the globe. Every person lie dead where they were standing just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to make of these events is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of Bugonia hopeful or bleak? Are people doomed or worth saving? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

Tracy does not wish to provide a definitive answer either way.

“Some people find it to be a very bleak ending, or a sad ending, a despairing ending,” he says. “Other people view it as being a strangely optimistic or happy conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

The film is currently in select cinemas now, with a broader opening on Oct. 31.