The Writer Details the Many Wild Turns of the New Sci-Fi Movie

The film writer Will Tracy doesn’t really remember what happens in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, since he wrote the screenplay for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Instead of poring over the original script for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu viewed the movie once, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I watched Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter says. “I didn’t really remember the film in great detail. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or honoring someone else's vision. The fairest thing to both films was to have them be judged separately.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who kidnaps a business leader he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the identical in both films, the variations are significant. Firstly, Tracy re-envisioned the executive character, originally male in the director's first version, as a woman. (Lanthimos chose his frequent collaborator the actress in the role.) The conclusions differ slightly as well, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is the character an alien in disguise or not?

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

“I never was really concerned with the twist aspect,” he says. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a toy that does a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

Nevertheless, he has a lot to discuss on the topic. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details ahead for the ending of Bugonia.

So is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in the original film, the end of this version discloses that Stone’s character, a pharmaceutical executive named her character, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (the actor) 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 Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute movie, she maintains suspense through a complex portrayal that may take several rewatches to fully understand.

“Emma talked a lot about how it was the first time she had to act 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 explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this film, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

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

Designing the aliens and their spaceship

After Stone’s character finally does reveal her true nature, we get a quick look of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer reveals was intended to look like a marine animal while avoiding high-tech visuals.

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

The goal was for them to seem strangely somewhat tribal or ancient.

The Andromedons’ attire is equally fascinating as their ship: rounded dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Again, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually kind of primitive or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy says. He adds that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the notion of anything being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the Earth (or just humankind)

Maybe the most significant change between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up planet Earth. This adaptation takes a somewhat more nuanced method, with its beings opting to snuff out all mankind, while keeping the Earth and its other inhabitants unharmed.

“My intention to achieve in the script was a vision of the planet post-human existence,” the writer explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans are deceased where they were located just before, but the world continues. How viewers, are supposed to interpret all this is open to discussion. Is the ending of the film hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Would the world be improved without us?

Tracy does not wish to provide a definitive answer in any direction.

“Some people see it as a very bleak ending, or a tragic finale, a despairing ending,” he states. “Different audiences see it as being a oddly optimistic or positive ending. In my opinion there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in select cinemas now, with a wide release on Halloween.