The Writer Details the Many Wild Twists of Emma Stone's New Science Fiction Film

The film screenwriter Will Tracy barely recalls what happens in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, given that he penned the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than poring over the source material for inspiration, the writer behind his previous work watched the movie a single time, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter explains. “I didn’t really remember the film all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. 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 kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the identical in each movie, the differences are considerable. Firstly, the writer re-envisioned the executive character, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a woman. (Lanthimos chose his regular partner Emma Stone in the role.) The endings differ slightly as well, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is this person an alien in disguise or not really?

The screenwriter believes that answer is a bit not the main focus.

“I never was really focused on the surprise element,” he comments. “I didn't want the film 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?”

Nevertheless, he has plenty to discuss on the topic. The interview with the writer covered Bugonia’s finale and its implications, along with the methods he and the director collaborated to bring those twists to life.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details ahead for the ending of Bugonia.

Therefore, is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

In brief: Absolutely.

Similar to in the original film, the conclusion of this version reveals that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in hiding. After tricking her kidnapper Teddy (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute film, she maintains suspense through a layered performance that may take several rewatches 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 watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” Tracy explains. "She was aware the second time someone sees this movie, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

He trails off, before continuing, “So she had to be aware this awareness in her performance.”

Creating the aliens and their vessel

After Stone’s character ultimately shows her true nature, we get a quick look of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia ends. Their ship has a unique design, which the writer reveals was meant to look like a sea creature while avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something very natural,” Tracy says.

They should feel strangely kind of tribal or primitive.

The aliens' attire is equally fascinating as their vessel: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the aim was to defy conventional science fiction.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually kind of primitive or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” the writer says. He adds that the director “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the idea of any element being sleek and silver, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the world (or just humanity)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up planet Earth. Bugonia adopts a somewhat more nuanced method, with its beings opting to snuff out all mankind, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

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

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. Every person are deceased where they were standing just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to interpret all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people doomed or worth saving? Would the world be improved in our absence?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to offer a clear resolution 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 optimistic or positive conclusion. In my opinion there's different ways to understand it.”

The film is in limited theatrical release at present, with a wide release on Oct. 31.