The Screenwriter Discusses the Many Unexpected Twists of the Latest Science Fiction Film

The film writer Will Tracy doesn’t really remember what happens in the original Korean movie. It's a little surprising, given that he penned the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than analyzing the original script for inspiration, the writer behind his previous work viewed the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” the screenwriter says. “My memory was foggy on the movie in great detail. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or honoring another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them be judged separately.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is pretty much the identical in both films, the differences are significant. For one thing, Tracy rewrote the executive character, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a woman. (Lanthimos chose 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 really?

The screenwriter feels that resolution is somewhat beside the point.

“I wasn't really focused on 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 plenty to discuss on the topic. The interview with the writer touched on Bugonia’s finale and its implications, along with the ways he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

Warning: Full spoilers ahead for the ending of the movie.

Therefore, is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in the original film, the end of Bugonia reveals that Stone’s character, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is actually a royal extraterrestrial in hiding. Once she manipulates her kidnapper the unstable man (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, Fuller beams back up to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a proof to her performance. During the two-hour film, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex performance that may require multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“Emma frequently discussed how it was the initial instance she had to give a performance where she felt she had to be conscious of people viewing it again. How those rewatching 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… understand?”

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

Creating the aliens and their vessel

Once the CEO ultimately shows her true nature, we get a quick look of her ship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a unique design, which the writer reveals was meant to look like a marine animal while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

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

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

The aliens' attire is just as interesting as their vessel: bulbous dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the aim was to defy sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy states. He adds that the director “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the idea of anything being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the Earth (or only humankind)

Maybe the biggest difference between the new film and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens respond to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up planet Earth. This adaptation adopts a somewhat more nuanced method, with its beings opting to eliminate all mankind, while keeping the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.

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

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of existence across the globe. All humans lie dead where they were standing moments earlier, but the world continues. How viewers, are meant to interpret these events is up for debate. Does the conclusion of Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Are people fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Would the world be better off in our absence?

The screenwriter does not wish to provide a definitive answer either way.

“Some people see it as a extremely dark ending, or a sad finale, a hopeless outcome,” he states. “Different audiences see it as being a strangely optimistic or happy conclusion. In my opinion there's different ways to read it.”

Bugonia is in select cinemas now, with a wide release on Oct. 31.