The Screenwriter Discusses the Numerous Wild Twists of Emma Stone's Latest Science Fiction Movie

The film writer the writer has a hazy memory of what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. It's a little surprising, given that he crafted the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than analyzing the original script for ideas, the writer behind The Menu viewed the film once, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter says. “I couldn't clearly recall the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them be judged separately.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who kidnaps a business leader he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is mostly the same in each movie, the variations are considerable. For one thing, the writer re-envisioned the lead role, played by a man in the director's original, as a woman. (The director cast his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is the character an alien in disguise or not really?

Tracy feels that resolution is somewhat not the main focus.

“I wasn't really focused on the surprise element,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a toy that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

Nevertheless, Tracy has a lot to say on the subject. The interview 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: Full spoilers follow for the conclusion of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Just like in the original film, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in hiding. Once she manipulates her kidnapper the unstable man (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to her performance. Throughout the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may take several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“Emma talked a lot about 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. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” Tracy explains. "She knew the second time someone sees this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

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

Creating the Andromedons and their vessel

Once Stone’s character finally does reveal her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a unique design, which the writer shares was meant to look like a sea creature while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

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

They should feel oddly kind of tribal or primitive.

The aliens' attire is equally fascinating as their ship: bulbous dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Again, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely kind of tribal or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer states. He notes that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the notion of anything being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or only humankind)

Maybe the biggest difference 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 planet Earth. This adaptation takes a slightly subtler method, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all human life, while leaving the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“What I wanted to achieve in the screenplay was a depiction of Earth after humanity,” Tracy says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the world continues. What we, as an audience, are supposed to interpret these events is up for debate. Does the conclusion of Bugonia hopeful or bleak? Is humanity fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Would the world be better off in our absence?

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

“Certain viewers see it as a very bleak conclusion, or a tragic finale, a despairing outcome,” he says. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly optimistic or positive ending. I think there are various interpretations to read it.”

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