The Screenwriter Discusses the Many Surprising Turns of Emma Stone's Latest Science Fiction Film

The film screenwriter the writer has a hazy memory of what happens in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, given that he penned the screenplay for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than poring over the original script for ideas, the screenwriter behind The Menu viewed the film once, took a few notes, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet the one time,” Tracy says. “I didn’t really remember the film all that well. 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 both films was to have them be judged separately.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is largely the identical in both films, the variations are notable. Firstly, the writer re-envisioned the executive character, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the role.) The endings vary a bit too, in the way they address their central question: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

The screenwriter feels that resolution is somewhat beside the point.

“I never was really concerned with the surprise element,” 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 discuss on the topic. Our discussion with the writer covered the film’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director collaborated to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Complete details follow for the conclusion of the movie.

So is the character an alien or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the end of this version discloses that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. After tricking her kidnapper the unstable man (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she beams back up to her alien vessel.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to her performance. During the two-hour film, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered portrayal that may require several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma 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,” the writer says. "She was aware the second time someone sees this movie, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

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

Creating the Andromedons and their vessel

After Stone’s character ultimately shows her real identity, we get a quick look of her ship and fellow aliens before Bugonia concludes. Their ship has a distinct appearance, which the writer reveals was intended to look like a sea creature while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-type design for the spaceship, something quite organic,” Tracy says.

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

The Andromedons’ attire is equally fascinating as their ship: rounded robes made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the aim was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually kind of primitive or basic, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer says. He adds that the director “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or just humankind)

Maybe the biggest difference between the new film and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and mistreatment by destroying the world. Bugonia takes a somewhat more nuanced 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 script was a depiction of the planet after humanity,” the writer says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of life across the planet. Every person are deceased where they were standing moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to make of all this is up for debate. Is the ending of the film optimistic or bleak? Are people fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Would the world be improved without us?

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

“Some people see it as a extremely dark conclusion, or a tragic finale, a despairing ending,” he says. “Other people view it as being a oddly hopeful or positive conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

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