The Writer Explains the Numerous Wild Twists of Emma Stone's Latest Sci-Fi Film

The film writer the writer has a hazy memory of what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he penned the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than poring over the original script for ideas, the writer behind The Menu watched the movie a single time, jotted down some thoughts, and started the process.

“I watched Save the Green Planet the one time,” Tracy says. “I couldn't clearly recall the movie all that well. My aim wasn't to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or honoring someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them be judged separately.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is largely the identical in each movie, the variations are notable. To start, Tracy rewrote the lead role, originally male in the director's first version, as a female character. (The director chose his frequent collaborator the actress in the role.) The endings vary a bit as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an alien in disguise or not really?

The screenwriter believes that resolution is a bit irrelevant.

“I never was really concerned with the twist aspect,” he says. “I didn't want the film to just be a toy that performs one surprise, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, he has a lot to say on the topic. Our discussion with the writer touched on Bugonia’s finale and what it all means, along with the ways he and Lanthimos collaborated to execute those surprises.

Warning: Complete details follow for the conclusion of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the end of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named her character, is in fact alien royalty in hiding. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (Plemons) into killing himself using her advanced device, she transports to her alien vessel.

The fact that this is unexpected is a proof to her performance. During the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a complex portrayal that may require multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to think,” Tracy explains. "She was aware the second time someone sees this film, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

He pauses, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect this awareness in her performance.”

Designing the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once the CEO ultimately shows her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia ends. Their ship has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was meant to look like a sea creature while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

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

They should feel oddly somewhat primitive or primitive.

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

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer states. He notes that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of anything 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 leader's kidnapping and abuse by blowing up the world. Bugonia adopts a slightly subtler method, with its beings opting to snuff out all human life, while keeping the planet and its remaining creatures intact.

“My intention to do in the screenplay was a depiction of Earth after humanity,” the writer explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of existence across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the world continues. How viewers, are meant to make of all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film optimistic or bleak? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Would the world be improved without us?

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

“Certain viewers find it to be a extremely dark conclusion, or a tragic finale, a despairing outcome,” he states. “Different audiences see it as being a oddly hopeful or positive conclusion. I think there's different ways to read it.”

Bugonia is in select cinemas now, with a wide release on Oct. 31.