Bugonia's Screenwriter Details the Countless Surprising Turns of the Latest Sci-Fi Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer doesn’t really remember what transpires in the original Korean movie. It's a little surprising, given that he crafted the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest reimagining of the original 2003 film. Instead of studying the source material for ideas, the writer behind his previous work viewed the movie once, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen the original the one time,” Tracy says. “I didn’t really remember the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to both films 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 largely the same in each movie, the differences are significant. For one thing, the writer re-envisioned the lead role, originally male in the director's original, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner Emma Stone in the part.) The conclusions vary a bit as well, in the way they tackle their central question: Is the character an alien in disguise or not?

The screenwriter feels that resolution is somewhat irrelevant.

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he says. “I didn't want the movie to just be a toy that does one surprise, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has a lot to say on the topic. Our discussion with the screenwriter covered Bugonia’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

Warning: Full spoilers follow for the ending of Bugonia.

So is the character an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

In brief: Yes.

Just like in Save the Green Planet, the end of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates her captor the unstable man (Plemons) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her alien vessel.

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

“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. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” Tracy explains. "She was aware the second time a person watches this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

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

Designing the aliens and their vessel

Once the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a quick look of her ship and fellow aliens before the film ends. Their vessel has a unique design, which Tracy shares was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something quite organic,” Tracy says.

The goal was for them to seem strangely kind of primitive or primitive.

The Andromedons’ clothing is equally fascinating as their ship: rounded robes made from thick, woven cords. Again, the goal was to go against conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely kind of tribal or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy states. He adds that the director “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the idea of anything being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the world (or just humankind)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by destroying the world. Bugonia takes a somewhat more nuanced method, with its aliens opting to eliminate all mankind, while leaving the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

“My intention to do in the screenplay was a vision of Earth after humanity,” Tracy explains.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of life across the globe. Every person are deceased where they were located just before, but the world continues. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret these events is up for debate. Is the ending of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people fated to perish or worth saving? Is the planet be better off without us?

Tracy does not wish to offer a clear resolution in any direction.

“Certain viewers see it as a very bleak ending, or a sad finale, a despairing outcome,” he says. “Different audiences see it as being a strangely hopeful or positive conclusion. I think there's different ways to read it.”

Bugonia is currently in select cinemas at present, with a broader opening on Oct. 31.