The Writer Explains the Numerous Unexpected Turns of the Latest Sci-Fi Film

The film screenwriter Will Tracy has a hazy memory of what happens in the original Korean movie. That’s a bit of a surprise, since he penned the script for the director’s latest adaptation of the original 2003 film. Rather than analyzing the source material for ideas, the writer behind The Menu viewed the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and started the process.

“I watched the original the one time,” the screenwriter says. “I didn’t really remember the film all that well. I didn't want to feel like I had to be slavishly following or remaking or paying tribute to another filmmaker's work. The fairest thing to both films was to have them exist independently.”

While the basic plot of a mentally unstable man (the actor in Bugonia) who abducts a business leader he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is mostly the same in both films, the differences are considerable. For one thing, the writer rewrote the lead role, originally male in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a woman. (The director cast his regular partner the actress in the role.) The conclusions vary a bit too, in the way they address their central question: Is this person an alien in disguise or not really?

Tracy believes that answer is a bit beside the point.

“I never was really focused on the twist aspect,” he says. “My intention wasn't for 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, Tracy has plenty to discuss on the topic. Our discussion with the screenwriter covered Bugonia’s finale and what it all means, along with the methods he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

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

So is the character an extraterrestrial or not?

In brief: Yes.

Similar to in Save the Green Planet, the end of this version reveals that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named her character, is in fact a royal extraterrestrial in disguise. Once she manipulates her captor Teddy (Plemons) into killing himself using her advanced device, she beams back up to her alien vessel.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a testament to her performance. Throughout the two-hour film, she maintains suspense through a complex portrayal that may require multiple viewings to fully understand.

“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. How those rewatching are going to think,” Tracy explains. "She knew the second time someone sees this film, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”

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

Creating the aliens and their vessel

Once the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a quick look of her spaceship and fellow aliens before Bugonia concludes. Their vessel has a unique design, which Tracy shares was meant 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,” Tracy says.

They should feel strangely kind of tribal or ancient.

The Andromedons’ clothing is just as interesting as their ship: bulbous dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Again, the aim was to defy conventional science fiction.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear strangely somewhat primitive or basic, and yet also highly decorative and sophisticated, because it's a very detailed and beautiful design on those strange knit costumes,” the writer states. He adds that the director “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the notion of any element being sleek and silver, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The conclusion of the Earth (or just humanity)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia and the original is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by blowing up planet Earth. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler approach, with its aliens opting to eliminate all human life, while leaving the planet and its other inhabitants unharmed.

“What I wanted to achieve in the script was a depiction of the planet after humanity,” Tracy says.

In the movie’s final moments, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the planet. All humans lie dead where they were standing just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are supposed to make of these events is up for debate. Does the conclusion of Bugonia hopeful or pessimistic? Is humanity fated to perish or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

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

“Some people find it to be a extremely dark conclusion, or a sad ending, a hopeless outcome,” he says. “Different audiences view it as being a oddly hopeful or positive ending. In my opinion there are various interpretations to read it.”

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