The Writer Discusses the Many Surprising Twists of the Latest Sci-Fi Film

The film writer the writer has a hazy memory of what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, given that he wrote the script for the director’s latest reimagining of the original 2003 film. Instead of analyzing the source material for ideas, the writer behind The Menu viewed the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I watched Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter says. “I didn’t really remember the film in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in Bugonia) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the same in each movie, the differences are significant. To start, the writer re-envisioned the executive character, originally male in the director's first version, as a woman. (Lanthimos chose his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the role.) The conclusions differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

Tracy believes that answer is somewhat irrelevant.

“I wasn't really focused on the surprise element,” he comments. “I didn't want the movie 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 discuss on the subject. Our discussion with the screenwriter covered Bugonia’s ending and its implications, along with the ways he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details follow for the ending 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 Bugonia discloses that Stone’s character, a pharmaceutical executive named her character, is actually alien royalty in hiding. Once she manipulates her kidnapper Teddy (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she beams back up to her alien vessel.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour movie, she maintains suspense through a complex portrayal that may take several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma talked a lot about how it was the first time she had to act where she felt she had to be aware of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this movie, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

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

Designing the Andromedons and their spaceship

After the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia concludes. Their ship has a unique design, which Tracy shares was intended to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-type design for the vessel, something quite organic,” Tracy says.

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

The aliens' attire is just as interesting as their vessel: rounded robes made from thick, woven cords. Again, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely somewhat 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 idea of anything being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or just humanity)

Maybe the biggest difference between Bugonia and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials respond to their ruler's abduction and abuse by destroying the world. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler approach, with its aliens opting to snuff out all human life, while leaving the planet and its other inhabitants intact.

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

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the planet. Every person are deceased where they were located moments earlier, but the world continues. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret these events is open to discussion. Is the ending of Bugonia optimistic or bleak? Is humanity fated to perish or worth saving? Would the world be improved without us?

Tracy isn’t willing to provide a definitive answer either way.

“Some people find it to be a very bleak ending, or a sad finale, a despairing ending,” he says. “Different audiences view it as being a strangely hopeful or positive conclusion. In my opinion there are various interpretations to read it.”

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