The Writer Discusses the Countless Surprising Turns of the Latest Sci-Fi Film

The film writer the writer doesn’t really remember what transpires in the original Korean movie. It's a little surprising, since he penned the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than analyzing the source material for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work viewed the movie a single time, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I’ve only seen the original the one time,” Tracy states. “I didn’t really remember the film in great detail. I didn't want to feel like I had to be slavishly following or recreating or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to both films was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the premise of a mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who kidnaps a business leader he’s convinced is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is mostly the identical in each movie, the differences are significant. To start, Tracy re-envisioned the lead role, played by a man in the director's original, as a female character. (Lanthimos chose his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The endings vary a bit as well, in the way they tackle their central question: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not really?

The screenwriter believes that answer is somewhat beside the point.

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he comments. “I didn't want the movie to just be a toy that performs one surprise, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, Tracy has plenty to discuss on the subject. The interview with the screenwriter touched on Bugonia’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and Lanthimos worked together to bring those twists to life.

Spoiler Alert: Complete details ahead for the conclusion of the movie.

Therefore, is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in the original film, the conclusion of this version discloses that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in hiding. After tricking her captor the unstable man (the actor) into ending his own life using her advanced device, Fuller transports to her alien vessel.

The fact that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the two-hour movie, she maintains suspense through a layered performance that may take 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 aware of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to think,” Tracy explains. "She was aware the second time a person watches this film, They are aware I am conscious of… you know?”

Tracy trails off, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her acting.”

Creating the Andromedons and their vessel

Once Stone’s character finally does reveal her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer reveals was intended to look like a sea creature while steering clear of high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the spaceship, something quite organic,” Tracy comments.

They should feel oddly kind of tribal or primitive.

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

“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely kind of primitive or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate 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 disliked the idea of anything being smooth and metallic, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The conclusion of the Earth (or only humankind)

Perhaps the most significant change between the new film and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens react to their ruler's abduction and abuse by destroying planet Earth. This adaptation takes a somewhat more nuanced method, with its aliens opting to snuff out all mankind, while leaving the Earth and its other inhabitants unharmed.

“What I wanted to do in the screenplay was a vision of the planet post-human existence,” the writer explains.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of existence across the globe. Every person are deceased where they were located just before, but the Earth continues. What we, as an audience, are supposed to make of all this is up for debate. Does the conclusion of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people doomed or deserving of rescue? Would the world be improved in our absence?

The screenwriter isn’t willing to offer a definitive answer either way.

“Some people find it to be a very bleak ending, or a tragic finale, a hopeless outcome,” he says. “Other people view it as being a oddly optimistic or happy conclusion. I think there are various interpretations to understand it.”

Bugonia is currently in select cinemas at present, with a wide release on Oct. 31.