The Writer Explains the Numerous Wild Twists of the Latest Science Fiction Movie

Bugonia screenwriter the writer doesn’t really remember what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he crafted the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than studying the original script for inspiration, the writer behind The Menu viewed the movie once, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet once,” Tracy says. “My memory was foggy on the movie in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s certain is an alien in disguise is largely the identical in each movie, the differences are notable. Firstly, the writer re-envisioned the lead role, originally male in the director's original, as a female character. (The director cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the role.) The endings vary a bit too, in the way they tackle their central question: Is the character an alien in disguise or not really?

Tracy feels that resolution is somewhat irrelevant.

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the movie to just be a toy that does one surprise, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

However, Tracy has a lot to say on the topic. Our discussion with the writer covered Bugonia’s finale and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Full spoilers follow for the ending of the movie.

So is the character an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in the original film, the end of this version reveals that Stone’s character, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in hiding. After tricking her captor Teddy (Plemons) into killing himself using her advanced device, Fuller transports to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. During the two-hour movie, she maintains suspense through a layered performance that may require 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 conscious of people viewing it again. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” Tracy explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

He pauses, before continuing, “So she had to be aware of that 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 fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which Tracy reveals was meant to look like a sea creature while avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-type design for the spaceship, something very natural,” he says.

The goal was for them to seem oddly somewhat tribal or primitive.

The aliens' clothing is just as interesting as their ship: rounded robes made from large, ropey threads. Once more, the aim was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy states. He adds that the director “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the notion of anything being sleek and silver, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The conclusion of the Earth (or just humankind)

Maybe the biggest difference between the new film and the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by blowing up the world. This adaptation takes a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its beings opting to snuff out all human life, while leaving the Earth and its other inhabitants unharmed.

“My intention to do in the script was a depiction of the planet after humanity,” Tracy says.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were located just before, but the world continues. How viewers, are meant to interpret these events is up for debate. Does the conclusion of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Are people fated to perish or worth saving? Would the world be improved without us?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to provide a definitive answer in any direction.

“Some people find it to be a extremely dark conclusion, or a sad ending, a despairing outcome,” he states. “Other people see it as being a oddly hopeful or positive conclusion. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in limited theatrical release now, with a broader opening on Halloween.