Bugonia's Screenwriter Details the Numerous Unexpected Turns of the New Science Fiction Movie

Bugonia screenwriter the writer has a hazy memory of what transpires in the original Korean movie. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he crafted the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Instead of analyzing the original script for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu viewed the film a single time, jotted down some thoughts, and started the process.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” Tracy states. “My memory was foggy on the film in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or recreating or honoring another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them exist independently.”

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 both films, the differences are significant. Firstly, Tracy rewrote the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner Emma Stone in the part.) The endings vary a bit as well, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is this person an alien in disguise or not really?

Tracy believes that answer is a bit irrelevant.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” he comments. “I didn't want the movie to just be a toy that does one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

However, Tracy has a lot to discuss on the topic. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s ending and its implications, along with the methods he and the director collaborated to execute those surprises.

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

Therefore, is the character an alien or not?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of this version 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 advanced device, she beams back up to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered portrayal that may take several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma talked a lot about how it was the initial instance she had to act where she felt she had to be conscious of people watching the movie a second time. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” Tracy says. "She was aware the second time someone sees this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

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

Designing the Andromedons and their vessel

After Stone’s character ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a unique design, which Tracy shares was meant 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 comments.

They should feel oddly somewhat primitive or ancient.

The Andromedons’ clothing is just as interesting as their ship: rounded robes made from large, ropey threads. Once more, the aim was to defy conventional science fiction.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually kind of tribal or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” the writer states. He notes that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the idea of any element being smooth and metallic, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the Earth (or only humanity)

Perhaps the most significant change between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet 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 slightly subtler method, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all human life, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“My intention to do in the screenplay was a vision of the planet after humanity,” the writer says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were standing just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to make of these events is up for debate. Is the ending of Bugonia hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity fated to perish or worth saving? Would the world be better off in our absence?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to provide a clear resolution in any direction.

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark ending, or a sad ending, a hopeless ending,” he says. “Other people see it as being a oddly hopeful or happy conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

Bugonia is in limited theatrical release at present, with a wide release on Halloween.