The Screenwriter Explains the Countless Unexpected Turns of the New Sci-Fi Movie

Bugonia screenwriter the writer doesn’t really remember what happens in the original Korean movie. This is somewhat unexpected, since he penned the script for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Rather than studying the source material for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work viewed the film a single time, jotted down some thoughts, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet the one time,” the screenwriter states. “I didn’t really remember the movie in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be faithfully adapting or remaking or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The fairest thing to both films was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in the new version) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the same in both films, the differences are notable. To start, the writer rewrote the lead role, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (The director chose his regular partner the actress in the part.) The conclusions differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their central question: Is this person an alien in disguise or not really?

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

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

However, he has plenty to discuss on the topic. Our discussion with the writer touched on Bugonia’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

Warning: Complete details ahead for the conclusion of Bugonia.

Therefore, is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Just like in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of Bugonia reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates her kidnapper Teddy (Plemons) into killing himself using her advanced device, she beams back up to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this is unexpected is a proof to her performance. Throughout the two-hour movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a layered performance that may require multiple viewings 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 conscious of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to think,” Tracy says. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

Tracy pauses, before adding, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her acting.”

Designing the aliens and their vessel

After the CEO ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their ship has a distinct appearance, which Tracy reveals was intended to look like a marine animal while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the vessel, something very natural,” he comments.

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

The aliens' clothing is just as interesting as their ship: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Once more, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely kind of primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer states. He adds that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the notion of any element being smooth and metallic, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the Earth (or just humanity)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens respond to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up the world. Bugonia adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens opting to eliminate all mankind, while leaving the Earth and its remaining creatures intact.

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

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the globe. All humans are deceased where they were standing just before, but the Earth continues. How viewers, are meant to interpret all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Would the world be better off in our absence?

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

“Some people see it as a extremely dark conclusion, or a sad ending, a hopeless outcome,” he says. “Other people see it as being a strangely hopeful or happy conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is in limited theatrical release now, with a wide release on Halloween.