Bugonia's Writer Explains the Many Surprising Twists of Emma Stone's New Science Fiction Movie

The film writer Will Tracy has a hazy memory of what happens in the original Korean movie. That’s a bit of a surprise, since he penned the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than poring over the source material for inspiration, the writer behind his previous work watched the movie a single time, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen the original the one time,” the screenwriter says. “I couldn't clearly recall the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting 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 mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the same in both films, the differences are significant. For one thing, Tracy rewrote the lead role, played by a man in the director's first version, as a female character. (The director cast his regular partner Emma Stone in the role.) The conclusions vary a bit too, in the way they address their central question: Is this person an alien in disguise or not?

The screenwriter feels that resolution is somewhat not the main focus.

“I never was really focused on the surprise element,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a toy that performs one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

However, Tracy has plenty to say on the topic. Our discussion with the writer covered the film’s finale 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 Emma Stone an alien or not an alien?

In brief: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the end of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. After tricking her kidnapper the unstable man (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she beams back up to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. During the two-hour film, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may require multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“She 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. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this movie, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

Tracy pauses, before adding, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her acting.”

Creating the aliens and their vessel

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 Tracy shares was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-type design for the spaceship, something quite organic,” he says.

They should feel strangely kind of tribal or primitive.

The Andromedons’ attire is just as interesting as their vessel: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Again, the aim was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

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

The end of the Earth (or only humanity)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia 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 somewhat more nuanced approach, with its beings choosing to snuff out all human life, while leaving the Earth and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“My intention to achieve in the screenplay was a depiction of Earth post-human existence,” the writer says.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the globe. Every person are deceased where they were located just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to make of all this is up for debate. Is the ending of the film optimistic or bleak? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be improved in our absence?

The screenwriter does not wish to offer a clear resolution either way.

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark conclusion, or a tragic finale, a hopeless outcome,” he states. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly optimistic or positive ending. In my opinion there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in limited theatrical release now, with a wide release on Oct. 31.