Bugonia's Writer Explains the Numerous Wild Turns of the New Science Fiction Film

Bugonia writer the writer barely recalls what happens in the original Korean movie. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he penned the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of studying the original script for inspiration, the screenwriter behind The Menu watched the movie a single time, took a few notes, and started the process.

“I watched the original the one time,” Tracy explains. “I didn’t really remember the film in great detail. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who abducts a business leader he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the identical in both films, the variations are considerable. For one thing, Tracy rewrote the lead role, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the part.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their central question: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

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

“I never was really focused on the surprise element,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a toy that performs a single trick, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

Nevertheless, he has plenty to discuss on the subject. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s ending and what it all means, along with the methods he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Complete details follow for the ending of Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Just like in the original film, the end of this version discloses that Stone’s character, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in hiding. After tricking her captor the unstable man (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she transports to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may take multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“Emma frequently discussed how it was the first time she had to act where she felt she had to be conscious of people watching the movie a second time. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

Tracy pauses, before continuing, “So she had to be aware of that in her performance.”

Designing the Andromedons and their vessel

Once the CEO ultimately shows her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and fellow aliens before the film concludes. Their vessel has a unique design, which the writer reveals was intended to look like a sea creature while avoiding futuristic aesthetics.

“[The director] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-type design for the vessel, something quite organic,” Tracy says.

They should feel oddly somewhat primitive or primitive.

The aliens' attire is just as interesting as their vessel: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Again, the goal was to defy conventional science fiction.

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely kind of tribal or basic, and yet also quite ornate and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy states. He adds that the director “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the idea of any element being sleek and silver, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The conclusion of the world (or just humanity)

Maybe the most significant change between Bugonia and the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their ruler's abduction and abuse by blowing up the world. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler method, with its beings opting to snuff out all human life, while leaving the Earth and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“My intention to achieve in the screenplay was a depiction of Earth after humanity,” Tracy says.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the globe. All humans lie dead where they were located just before, but the world continues. What we, as an audience, are meant to make of these events is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be better off without us?

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

“Some people see it as a extremely dark ending, or a tragic finale, a despairing ending,” he says. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly optimistic or happy ending. In my opinion there's different ways to read it.”

The film is in select cinemas now, with a broader opening on Halloween.