The Writer Explains the Numerous Surprising Turns of the Latest Sci-Fi Film

The film writer the writer barely recalls what transpires in the original Korean movie. It's a little surprising, given that he crafted the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than studying the source material for ideas, the writer behind his previous work watched the film a single time, took a few notes, and started the process.

“I watched the original the one time,” Tracy says. “I didn’t really remember the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them be judged separately.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in Bugonia) who kidnaps a business leader he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is pretty much the same in each movie, the variations are significant. To start, Tracy rewrote the lead role, originally male in the director's first version, as a woman. (The director chose his regular partner the actress in the role.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their central question: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

Tracy believes that answer is somewhat beside the point.

“I wasn't really concerned with the twist aspect,” he comments. “I didn't want the movie to just be a toy that does a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

Nevertheless, he has a lot to say on the subject. The interview with the writer covered the film’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

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

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

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in the original film, the end of this version reveals that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates her kidnapper Teddy (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, she transports to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the two-hour movie, she maintains suspense through a layered portrayal that may require several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to act where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this film, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

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

Designing the aliens and their spaceship

Once the CEO ultimately shows her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a unique design, which the writer shares was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

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

The goal was for them to seem strangely kind of primitive or ancient.

The Andromedons’ clothing is just as interesting as their ship: rounded robes made from thick, woven cords. Again, the goal was to go against conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” the writer says. He notes that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the idea of any element being smooth and metallic, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the Earth (or only humankind)

Perhaps the biggest difference between the new film and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying planet Earth. This adaptation takes a somewhat more nuanced method, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all human life, while keeping the Earth and its other inhabitants intact.

“What I wanted to achieve in the script was a depiction of Earth post-human existence,” the writer explains.

In the movie’s final moments, 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 supposed to interpret all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be improved in our absence?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to provide a clear resolution either way.

“Certain viewers find it to be a very bleak ending, or a tragic finale, a despairing outcome,” he says. “Other people view it as being a strangely hopeful or positive conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to understand it.”

The film is in select cinemas at present, with a wide release on Oct. 31.