The Writer Discusses the Countless Wild Twists of the New Science Fiction Film

The film writer Will Tracy barely recalls what transpires in Save the Green Planet!. That’s a bit of a surprise, considering he wrote the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest reimagining of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of studying the original script for ideas, the writer behind his previous work viewed the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and started the process.

“I’ve only seen Save the Green Planet the one time,” the screenwriter states. “My memory was foggy on the movie in great detail. My aim wasn't to feel as though I had to be slavishly following or recreating or paying tribute to someone else's vision. 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 the new version) who kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive he’s convinced is an alien in disguise is pretty much the same in each movie, the variations are significant. To start, the writer rewrote the executive character, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s original, as a female character. (Lanthimos cast his regular partner the actress in the role.) The conclusions differ slightly too, in the way they tackle their shared core mystery: Is the character an alien in disguise or not?

The screenwriter believes that answer is a bit not the main focus.

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

Nevertheless, Tracy has a lot to say on the subject. Our discussion with the screenwriter covered the film’s ending and what it all means, along with the ways he and the director worked together to bring those twists to life.

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

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

Short answer: Absolutely.

Just like in the original film, the conclusion of this version reveals that the CEO, a pharmaceutical executive named her character, is in fact alien royalty in disguise. After tricking her kidnapper Teddy (Plemons) into ending his own life using her teleportation technology, Fuller beams back up to her Andromedon spaceship.

The reality that this comes as a surprise is a proof to her performance. During the two-hour movie, she maintains suspense through a complex performance that may take multiple viewings to fully understand.

“Emma 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 think,” the writer says. "She knew the second time someone sees this film, They know that I know that I'm… understand?”

Tracy pauses, before continuing, “Thus, her performance needed to reflect this awareness in her performance.”

Creating the Andromedons and their vessel

Once the CEO finally does reveal her real identity, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and fellow aliens before Bugonia ends. Their vessel has a distinct appearance, which the writer shares was intended to look like a marine animal while avoiding high-tech visuals.

“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-type design for the vessel, something quite organic,” he says.

They should feel oddly somewhat tribal or ancient.

The Andromedons’ attire is just as interesting as their ship: bulbous robes made from thick, woven cords. Again, the aim was to go against conventional science fiction.

“Regarding the attire, instead of being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] feel unusually somewhat primitive or primitive, and yet also highly decorative and not primitive, because it's such an intricate and beautiful design on those unusual woven outfits,” the writer says. He notes that the director “viewed it as being a extremely old society. He wasn't into the notion of any element being smooth and metallic, or some ultra-modern cosmic vision.”

The end of the Earth (or only humanity)

Perhaps the most significant change between the new film and the original is that in the original Korean movie, the aliens respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by blowing up planet Earth. Bugonia takes a slightly subtler method, with its beings choosing to eliminate all mankind, while keeping the planet and its remaining creatures intact.

“My intention to achieve in the screenplay was a depiction of Earth post-human existence,” the writer explains.

In the film's conclusion, we see a sequence of scenes of existence across the globe. All humans lie dead where they were standing moments earlier, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to make of all this is open to discussion. Does the conclusion of the film hopeful or bleak? Is humanity doomed or deserving of rescue? Is the planet be better off in our absence?

The screenwriter does not wish to provide a clear resolution in any direction.

“Certain viewers see it as a very bleak ending, or a tragic ending, a despairing ending,” he says. “Different audiences see it as being a strangely hopeful or positive conclusion. I think there's different ways to understand it.”

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