The Writer Discusses the Countless Surprising Turns of Emma Stone's New Science Fiction Movie

Bugonia screenwriter the writer has a hazy memory of what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he wrote the script for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Instead of analyzing the source material for inspiration, the writer behind The Menu viewed the movie once, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet the one time,” the screenwriter explains. “I didn’t really remember the film in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (the actor in the new version) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is pretty much the identical in each movie, the differences are significant. Firstly, Tracy re-envisioned the lead role, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner the actress in the part.) The conclusions differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is this person an alien in disguise or not really?

The screenwriter believes that answer is somewhat not the main focus.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” 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?”

Nevertheless, Tracy has plenty to say on the topic. The interview with the screenwriter covered Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the methods he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

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

Therefore, is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in the original film, the end of Bugonia discloses that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact alien royalty in hiding. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour film, she maintains suspense through a complex portrayal that may take several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“Emma frequently discussed how it was the first time she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” Tracy explains. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this film, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

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

Designing the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once Stone’s character finally does reveal her true nature, we get a quick look of her spaceship and fellow aliens before Bugonia concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which Tracy reveals was intended to look like a marine animal while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

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

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

The Andromedons’ clothing is just as interesting as their ship: rounded dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the aim was to defy conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually kind of primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer says. He adds that the director “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being sleek and silver, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the world (or only humanity)

Maybe the most significant change between the new film and the original is that in the first version, the aliens react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by destroying the world. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler method, with its beings opting to eliminate all human life, while keeping the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“What I wanted to do in the screenplay was a depiction of the planet after humanity,” Tracy says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of existence across the planet. Every person are deceased where they were standing just before, but the world keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are supposed to interpret these events is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film optimistic or bleak? Is humanity fated to perish or worth saving? Is the planet be improved in our absence?

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

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

Bugonia is in limited theatrical release now, with a wide release on Oct. 31.