The Screenwriter Explains the Many Surprising Twists of Emma Stone's Latest Science Fiction Film

The film screenwriter Will Tracy doesn’t really remember what transpires in the original Korean movie. That’s a bit of a surprise, given that he penned the script for the director’s new reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than poring over the original script for inspiration, the writer behind The Menu watched the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen the original the one time,” Tracy states. “I didn’t really remember the film all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be slavishly following or recreating or paying tribute to 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 emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is largely the same in each movie, the differences are significant. To start, the writer re-envisioned the lead role, played by a man in the director's original, as a woman. (The director chose his regular partner Emma Stone in the part.) The conclusions vary a bit too, in the way they address their central question: Is this person an alien in disguise or not?

Tracy believes that resolution is a bit beside the point.

“I wasn't really focused on 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: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has plenty to discuss on the subject. Our discussion with the writer touched on Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

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

Therefore, is Emma Stone an alien or not?

In brief: Absolutely.

Just like in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of this version reveals that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in hiding. Once she manipulates her captor Teddy (the actor) into killing himself using her advanced device, Fuller beams back up to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a testament to her performance. During the two-hour film, she maintains suspense through a complex portrayal that may require multiple viewings 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 conscious of people watching the movie a second time. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

He trails off, before adding, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect this awareness in her performance.”

Creating the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once Stone’s character finally does reveal her real identity, we get a quick look of her ship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia concludes. Their ship has a unique design, which the writer shares was meant to look like a sea creature while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

“[Yorgos] 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 tribal or primitive.

The aliens' attire is equally fascinating as their ship: rounded robes made from large, ropey threads. Once more, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually kind of primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy says. He notes that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the notion of anything being smooth and metallic, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the world (or just humanity)

Maybe the biggest difference between the new film and the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials react to their ruler's abduction and abuse by blowing up planet Earth. This adaptation takes a slightly subtler approach, with its aliens opting to snuff out all mankind, while leaving the planet and its remaining creatures intact.

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

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were standing moments earlier, but the Earth continues. How viewers, are supposed to make of these events is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people fated to perish or worth saving? Is the planet be improved in our absence?

Tracy does not wish to provide a clear resolution in any direction.

“Certain viewers find it to be a extremely dark ending, or a tragic finale, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Other people see it as being a oddly optimistic or happy conclusion. In my opinion there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is in select cinemas now, with a broader opening on Oct. 31.