The Writer Explains the Countless Wild Turns of the New Science Fiction Film

The film screenwriter the writer barely recalls what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he wrote the script for the director’s latest adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of poring over the source material for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work watched the film a single time, took a few notes, and got to work.

“I watched Save the Green Planet the one time,” the screenwriter says. “I couldn't clearly recall the film in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel like I had to be faithfully adapting or recreating or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them each stand on their own.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s certain is an extraterrestrial hiding on Earth is pretty much the identical in both films, the variations are significant. To start, Tracy rewrote the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (The director chose his frequent collaborator the actress in the part.) The endings vary a bit as well, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy believes that resolution is somewhat not the main focus.

“I wasn't really concerned with the surprise element,” he says. “I didn't want the movie to just be a gadget that does one surprise, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

Nevertheless, he has plenty to discuss on the topic. Our discussion with the screenwriter touched on the film’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and Lanthimos collaborated to bring those twists to life.

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers ahead for the conclusion of the movie.

Therefore, is Emma Stone an alien or not an alien?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the end of this version discloses that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named her character, is actually a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. Once she manipulates her kidnapper the unstable man (the actor) into killing himself using her teleportation technology, she transports to her alien vessel.

The reality that this is unexpected is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the two-hour movie, 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 first time she had to act where she felt she had to be conscious of people watching the movie a second time. What the repeat viewers are going to perceive,” the writer says. "She knew the upon a repeat viewing someone sees this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

He trails off, before adding, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect this awareness in her acting.”

Creating the Andromedons and their vessel

Once the CEO ultimately shows her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and other extraterrestrials before Bugonia concludes. Their vessel has a unique design, which Tracy shares 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-type design for the spaceship, something very natural,” he comments.

They should feel oddly kind of primitive or ancient.

The Andromedons’ attire is equally fascinating as their vessel: bulbous dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Again, the aim was to go against sci-fi movie tradition.

“For the costumes, instead of being advanced, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy states. He adds that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He wasn't into the notion of any element being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The end of the Earth (or just humanity)

Maybe the most significant change between the new film and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying the world. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler method, with its aliens opting to eliminate all mankind, while keeping the Earth and its remaining creatures unharmed.

“My intention to do in the script was a vision of Earth post-human existence,” Tracy says.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of life across the globe. All humans lie dead where they were located just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. How viewers, are supposed to make of these events is up for debate. Is the ending of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people fated to perish or worth saving? Is the planet be improved without us?

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

“Certain viewers see it as a very bleak ending, or a tragic ending, a despairing outcome,” he says. “Other people see it as being a oddly optimistic or positive conclusion. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

The film is in limited theatrical release at present, with a broader opening on Oct. 31.