Bugonia's Writer Explains the Countless Surprising Turns of Emma Stone's Latest Sci-Fi Movie

Bugonia writer the writer barely recalls what happens in the original Korean movie. This is somewhat unexpected, given that he wrote the screenplay for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than studying the source material for inspiration, the screenwriter behind his previous work viewed the movie a single time, took a few notes, and started the process.

“I watched the original the one time,” the screenwriter states. “I couldn't clearly recall the film all that well. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or recreating or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the same in each movie, 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 Emma Stone in the part.) The conclusions differ slightly as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

Tracy believes that answer is a bit not the main focus.

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the movie to just be a toy that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

Nevertheless, he has a lot to discuss on the subject. The interview with the writer covered Bugonia’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and Lanthimos worked together to execute those surprises.

Warning: Full spoilers follow for the ending of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an alien or not?

In brief: Yes.

Similar to in the original film, the end of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named her character, is actually alien royalty in hiding. After tricking her captor the unstable man (the actor) into ending his own life using her teleportation technology, Fuller transports to her alien vessel.

The fact that this is unexpected is a proof to her performance. Throughout the two-hour movie, she maintains suspense through a complex performance that may require multiple viewings to fully understand.

“She talked a lot about how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” Tracy says. "She knew the second time 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 vessel

Once Stone’s character finally does reveal her true nature, we get a quick look of her ship and fellow aliens before the film concludes. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

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

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

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

“Regarding the attire, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat tribal or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy says. He notes that Lanthimos “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the notion of anything being sleek and silver, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the Earth (or only humankind)

Perhaps the most significant change between Bugonia and the original is that in the first version, the aliens respond to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up planet Earth. Bugonia adopts a somewhat more nuanced method, with its aliens opting to eliminate all human life, while keeping the planet and its other inhabitants unharmed.

“My intention to do in the screenplay was a vision of Earth post-human existence,” Tracy explains.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were standing just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are meant to interpret all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of Bugonia hopeful or bleak? Is humanity fated to perish or worth saving? Is the planet be improved without us?

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

“Certain viewers find it to be a extremely dark conclusion, or a tragic ending, a despairing outcome,” he states. “Different audiences see it as being a oddly hopeful or positive ending. I think there's different ways to read it.”

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