The Screenwriter Details the Numerous Unexpected Twists of the Latest Science Fiction Film

Bugonia screenwriter the writer has a hazy memory of what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. This is somewhat unexpected, since he wrote the screenplay for the director’s latest reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than studying the original script for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work viewed the film a single time, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I watched Save the Green Planet once,” the screenwriter explains. “My memory was foggy on the movie all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be slavishly following or recreating or honoring someone else's vision. The most respectful approach to both films was to have them be judged separately.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is largely the same in both films, the variations are considerable. For one thing, Tracy rewrote the executive character, originally male in the director's original, as a female character. (Lanthimos chose his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The endings differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is this person an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy feels that resolution is somewhat beside the point.

“I wasn't really concerned with the twist aspect,” he comments. “My intention wasn't for the film to just be a gadget that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has a lot to discuss on the subject. The interview with the screenwriter touched on the film’s finale and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to execute those surprises.

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

Therefore, is the character an alien or not an alien?

Short answer: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the conclusion of this version reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. Once she manipulates her kidnapper Teddy (Plemons) into killing himself using her advanced device, she transports to her alien vessel.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a testament to her performance. During the two-hour film, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may take multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.

“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 watching the movie a second time. How those rewatching are going to think,” Tracy explains. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

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

Designing the Andromedons and their spaceship

After Stone’s character ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer reveals was intended to look like a sea creature while avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[The director] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-type design for the vessel, something very natural,” he says.

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

The aliens' attire is just as interesting as their ship: rounded robes made from large, ropey threads. Once more, the goal was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“Regarding the attire, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel strangely somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy says. He notes that the director “viewed it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the notion of anything being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or only humankind)

Perhaps the biggest difference between the new film and the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials react to their ruler's abduction and mistreatment by blowing up the world. This adaptation adopts a somewhat more nuanced approach, with its aliens choosing to eliminate all human life, while leaving the Earth and its other inhabitants unharmed.

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

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the globe. All humans lie dead where they were located moments earlier, but the world keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to interpret all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Would the world be better off without us?

The screenwriter does not wish to offer a clear resolution either way.

“Certain viewers see it as a extremely dark ending, or a sad finale, a despairing outcome,” he states. “Different audiences see it as being a oddly optimistic or happy conclusion. In my opinion there's different ways to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in select cinemas at present, with a broader opening on Halloween.