Bugonia's Screenwriter Discusses the Many Surprising Turns of the Latest Science Fiction Film

The film screenwriter Will Tracy barely recalls what happens in Save the Green Planet!. It's a little surprising, considering he crafted the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of analyzing the original script for ideas, the writer behind The Menu watched the movie once, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” Tracy explains. “I couldn't clearly recall the film all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or honoring someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in the new version) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is largely the same in both films, the differences are notable. Firstly, Tracy rewrote the lead role, played by a man in the director's original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The conclusions differ slightly as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

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

“I never was really concerned with the surprise element,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a gadget that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, he has plenty to discuss on the topic. Our discussion with the screenwriter covered the film’s finale and its implications, along with the methods he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

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

Therefore, is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

In brief: Absolutely.

Just like in the original film, the end of Bugonia reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates her kidnapper Teddy (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, she transports to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a testament to her performance. Throughout the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a layered portrayal that may take several rewatches to fully understand.

“She frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be aware of people viewing it again. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She was aware the second time someone sees this movie, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

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

Designing the Andromedons and their vessel

Once the CEO ultimately shows her true nature, we get a quick look of her ship and fellow aliens before the film concludes. Their vessel has a unique design, which the writer reveals was intended to look like a marine animal while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something quite organic,” Tracy comments.

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

The aliens' clothing is just as interesting as their ship: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the goal was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer states. He notes that the director “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or just humankind)

Maybe the most significant change between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the aliens react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by destroying planet Earth. This adaptation adopts a slightly subtler method, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all mankind, while leaving the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“My intention to achieve in the screenplay was a depiction of the planet after humanity,” Tracy explains.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of existence across the planet. Every person are deceased where they were standing just before, but the world continues. How viewers, are supposed to interpret all this is up for debate. Does the conclusion of the film hopeful or bleak? Is humanity fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be improved without us?

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 despairing ending,” he states. “Different audiences see it as being a oddly optimistic or happy ending. I think there are various interpretations to understand it.”

The film is in select cinemas now, with a broader opening on Halloween.