Bugonia's Screenwriter Explains the Many Unexpected Twists of the New Sci-Fi Film

The film screenwriter the writer has a hazy memory of what happens in the original Korean movie. It's a little surprising, since he crafted the script for the director’s new adaptation of the original 2003 film. Rather than studying 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 watched the original once,” the screenwriter explains. “I didn’t really remember the film in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or recreating or honoring someone else's vision. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the premise of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is largely the same in each movie, the differences are significant. To start, the writer rewrote the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The endings differ slightly as well, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy feels that resolution is somewhat beside the point.

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he says. “I didn't want the film to just be a toy that does one surprise, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: OK, well, what else does this toy do?”

Nevertheless, he has plenty to discuss on the subject. The interview with the screenwriter touched on the film’s ending and its implications, along with the ways he and Lanthimos collaborated to execute those surprises.

Warning: Complete details ahead for the conclusion of the movie.

So is Emma Stone an alien or not an alien?

In brief: Absolutely.

Just like in the original film, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. After tricking her captor Teddy (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she beams back up to her alien vessel.

The fact that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. Throughout the two-hour film, she maintains suspense through a layered performance that may require several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“She 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 perceive,” Tracy says. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this movie, They know that I know that I'm… you know?”

Tracy pauses, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect this awareness in her performance.”

Designing the Andromedons and their spaceship

After the CEO finally does reveal her true nature, we get a quick look of her spaceship and fellow aliens before the film ends. Their ship has a unique design, which Tracy reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

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

They should feel oddly somewhat primitive or ancient.

The Andromedons’ attire is equally fascinating as their ship: bulbous robes made from large, ropey threads. Again, the aim was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually kind of tribal or basic, and yet also highly decorative 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 very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the world (or just humankind)

Perhaps the most significant change between the new film and the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their ruler's abduction and abuse by blowing up planet Earth. This adaptation adopts a slightly subtler method, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all human life, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

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

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of existence across the planet. Every person lie dead where they were standing moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are meant to make of these events is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of Bugonia hopeful or bleak? Is humanity fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Would the world be better off in our absence?

Tracy isn’t willing to provide a clear resolution in any direction.

“Some people see it as a very bleak ending, or a tragic ending, a hopeless ending,” he states. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly hopeful or happy conclusion. In my opinion there are various interpretations to understand it.”

The film is currently in limited theatrical release at present, with a broader opening on Halloween.