The Writer Explains the Countless Surprising Twists of Emma Stone's New Science Fiction Film

The film screenwriter the writer barely recalls what happens in the original Korean movie. This is somewhat unexpected, considering he penned the screenplay for the director’s new adaptation of the original 2003 film. Instead of poring over the original script for inspiration, the screenwriter behind his previous work watched the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.

“I’ve only seen the original once,” Tracy says. “My memory was foggy on the film in great detail. I didn't want to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or remaking or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The most respectful approach to those movies was to have them exist independently.”

While the basic plot of a emotionally troubled man (the actor in the new version) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is pretty much the identical in both films, the differences are significant. For one thing, the writer rewrote the executive character, played by a man in the director's original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner the actress in the part.) The conclusions vary a bit too, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is this person an extraterrestrial or not?

Tracy feels that answer is somewhat not the main focus.

“I wasn't really concerned with the twist aspect,” he says. “I didn't want the film to just be a toy that performs a single trick, and then once it does that surprise, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”

However, he has plenty to discuss on the subject. Our discussion with the screenwriter touched on the film’s finale and what it all means, along with the ways he and Lanthimos collaborated to execute those surprises.

Warning: Full spoilers follow for the conclusion of the movie.

So is Emma Stone an extraterrestrial or not an alien?

Short answer: Yes.

Just like in the original film, the end of Bugonia discloses that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. After tricking her captor the unstable man (Plemons) into ending his own life using her advanced device, she beams back up to her Andromedon spaceship.

The fact that this is unexpected is a proof to Stone’s acting skills. During the 118-minute film, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may take several rewatches to comprehend entirely.

“She talked a lot about how it was the first time 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 perceive,” the writer explains. "She was aware the second time someone sees this film, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

He pauses, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect of that in her performance.”

Creating the aliens and their spaceship

After Stone’s character ultimately shows 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 avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really fascinated by almost like a jellyfish-inspired shape for the spaceship, something very natural,” Tracy says.

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

The Andromedons’ clothing is just as interesting as their vessel: bulbous dress-like garments made from large, ropey threads. Once more, the aim was to go against conventional science fiction.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat primitive or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's such an intricate and elegant creation on those strange knit costumes,” Tracy states. He adds that Lanthimos “thought of it as being a very ancient civilization. He disliked the idea of any element being smooth and metallic, or a hyper-futuristic look.”

The conclusion of the world (or only humanity)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the extraterrestrials react to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by destroying planet Earth. This adaptation takes a slightly subtler approach, with its aliens opting to snuff out all human life, while leaving the Earth and its other inhabitants intact.

“What I wanted to do in the screenplay was a vision of Earth after humanity,” the writer explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. Every person are deceased where they were standing just before, but the Earth continues. What we, as an audience, are meant to make of these events is up for debate. Is the ending of the film optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or worth saving? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

Tracy does not wish to provide a definitive answer in any direction.

“Some people find it to be a very bleak conclusion, or a sad finale, a despairing outcome,” he states. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly hopeful or positive ending. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

The film is in limited theatrical release now, with a wide release on Oct. 31.