Bugonia's Writer Explains the Numerous Wild Turns of Emma Stone's Latest Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia writer the writer has a hazy memory of what happens in the original Korean movie. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he crafted the screenplay for the director’s new adaptation of the original 2003 film. Rather than poring over the original script for inspiration, the writer behind The Menu watched the film once, jotted down some thoughts, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” Tracy says. “My memory was foggy on the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or recreating or honoring someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them be judged separately.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s certain is an alien in disguise is pretty much the same in each movie, the differences are notable. Firstly, the writer rewrote the executive character, originally male in the director's original, as a female character. (The director chose his regular partner Emma Stone in the part.) The conclusions differ slightly as well, in the way they tackle their central question: Is this person an alien in disguise or not really?

The screenwriter feels that answer is somewhat beside the point.

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

However, he has a lot to discuss on the topic. Our discussion with the writer touched on 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 conclusion of Bugonia.

Therefore, is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

In brief: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the end of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named her character, is actually a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she beams back up to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute film, she maintains suspense through a layered portrayal that may take multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She frequently discussed how it was the first time she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be aware of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She was aware the second time someone sees this film, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

He trails off, before adding, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her performance.”

Creating the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once Stone’s character ultimately shows her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and fellow aliens before Bugonia concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which Tracy shares was intended to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-type design for the vessel, something quite organic,” Tracy comments.

The goal was for them to seem strangely somewhat tribal or ancient.

The Andromedons’ clothing is equally fascinating as their ship: bulbous dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to defy conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat primitive or primitive, 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 “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the notion of anything being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or only humanity)

Maybe the most significant change between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the aliens react to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying planet Earth. This adaptation adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its beings choosing to snuff out all human life, while leaving the Earth and its other inhabitants unharmed.

“What I wanted to achieve in the script was a vision of the planet post-human existence,” Tracy says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of life across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were located just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are meant to interpret these events is up for debate. Is the ending of the film optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet 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 conclusion, or a sad finale, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Different audiences see it as being a strangely hopeful or positive ending. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

Bugonia is currently in select cinemas now, with a wide release on Halloween.