The Screenwriter Details the Many Wild Turns of Emma Stone's New Sci-Fi Movie

Bugonia writer the writer doesn’t really remember what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, given that he crafted the script for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Instead of studying the original script for inspiration, the writer behind his previous work watched the film a single time, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” Tracy states. “I didn’t really remember the film all that well. 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 be judged separately.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is largely the same in each movie, the variations are considerable. For one thing, the writer rewrote the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a female character. (The director chose his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the role.) The conclusions vary a bit too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy believes that answer is somewhat not the main focus.

“I wasn't really concerned with the twist aspect,” he comments. “I didn't want the film to just be a gadget that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

Nevertheless, Tracy has a lot to say on the subject. The interview with the screenwriter touched on Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the methods he and Lanthimos worked together to bring those twists to life.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details follow for the conclusion of Bugonia.

Therefore, is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

In brief: Absolutely.

Just like in the original film, the conclusion of Bugonia 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 killing himself using her teleportation technology, she beams back up to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour film, she maintains suspense through a layered portrayal 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 conscious of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” Tracy says. "She was aware the second time a person watches this movie, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

He pauses, before adding, “So she had to be aware this awareness in her performance.”

Creating the aliens and their spaceship

After Stone’s character ultimately shows her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before the film concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which Tracy reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

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

They should feel strangely kind of tribal or ancient.

The aliens' attire is just as interesting as their vessel: bulbous dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually kind of primitive or basic, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy says. He notes that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a extremely old society. 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 humankind)

Maybe the most significant change between the new film and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and mistreatment by destroying the world. Bugonia adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens opting to snuff out all mankind, while leaving the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

“My intention to do in the screenplay 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. All humans are deceased where they were located just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Are people fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be improved in our absence?

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

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark ending, or a tragic ending, a hopeless ending,” he says. “Other people view it as being a strangely optimistic or happy conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

Bugonia is currently in limited theatrical release now, with a broader opening on Oct. 31.