The Screenwriter Explains the Countless Surprising Twists of the Latest Science Fiction Film

The film writer Will Tracy doesn’t really remember what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he crafted the script for the director’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of studying the source material for ideas, the writer behind The Menu watched the film once, jotted down some thoughts, and started the process.

“I’ve only seen the original the one time,” Tracy says. “I didn’t really remember the movie all that well. My aim wasn't 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 both films was to have them be judged separately.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (the actor in the new version) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is pretty much the identical in each movie, the differences are considerable. To start, the writer re-envisioned the executive character, played by a man in the director's original, as a woman. (The director cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the role.) The conclusions differ slightly as well, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is this person an alien in disguise or not really?

Tracy feels that answer is a bit beside the point.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a gadget that does a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

However, Tracy has plenty to discuss on the subject. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s finale and its implications, along with the methods he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

Warning: Complete details ahead for the ending of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an alien or not?

In brief: Absolutely.

Similar to in the original film, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named her character, is actually a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. After tricking her captor Teddy (Plemons) into ending his own life using her teleportation technology, she beams back up to her alien vessel.

The fact that this comes as a surprise is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour film, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex performance that may take several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be aware of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” Tracy says. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

Tracy trails off, before continuing, “So she had to be aware of that in her acting.”

Designing the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once Stone’s character ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before the film concludes. Their ship has a unique design, which the writer reveals was meant to look like a sea creature while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

“[The director] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the spaceship, something quite organic,” Tracy comments.

They should feel oddly somewhat primitive or ancient.

The aliens' clothing is equally fascinating as their vessel: rounded dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to go against conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat primitive or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and beautiful design on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy states. He adds that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the idea of anything being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or only humanity)

Perhaps the most significant change between the new film and Save the Green Planet is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up planet Earth. This adaptation adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its beings choosing to eliminate all mankind, while leaving the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“What I wanted to achieve in the screenplay was a vision of Earth post-human existence,” the writer says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of existence across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Would the world be better off without us?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to provide a clear resolution either way.

“Some people find it to be a extremely dark conclusion, or a sad ending, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Other people see it as being a oddly hopeful or happy ending. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

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