Is Emma Stone’s character an alien?

Bugonia screenwriter Will Tracy doesn't really remember what happens in Save the Green Planet! This is a bit surprising considering he wrote the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos' a new adaptation of the 2003 Korean dark sci-fi comedy. Instead of digging into the original script for inspiration, the screenwriter Menu I watched the movie once, took some notes, and got to work.

“I only saw Save the green planet once,” Tracy tells Polygon. — I don’t remember this film very well. I didn't want to feel like I had to faithfully adapt, remake, or respect someone else's vision. The fairest thing about these films was that each of them stood on its own.”

Although the premise of a mentally unstable person(Jesse Plemons V Bugonia), who kidnaps a pharmaceutical company executive who he believes is an alien in disguise, is virtually the same in both films, the differences being significant. First, Tracy rewrote the main character, who was played by a man in Jang Joon Hwan's original, as a woman. (Lanthimos cast his frequent collaborator Emma Stone in the role.) The endings also differ slightly in how they resolve the overall central mystery: Is this man an alien in disguise or not?

Tracy thinks this answer is irrelevant.

“I was never really focused on the turning aspect,” he says. “I didn't want the movie to be just a toy that gives one surprise and then when it does that surprise, it's like: OK, what else does this toy do??

However, Tracy has a lot to say on this topic. Polygon talked to the screenwriter about Bugoniaand what it all means, as well as how he and Lanthimos collaborated to bring these twists to life.

Warning: Full spoilers ahead for the ending. Bugonia.

So is Emma Stone an alien or not?

Short answer: Yes.

Exactly the same as in Save the green planetend Bugonia reveals that Stone's character, a major pharmaceutical company CEO named Michelle Fuller, is actually alien royalty in disguise. After Fuller tricks her captor Teddy (Plemons) into committing suicide using her teleportation technology, she returns to her spaceship, the Andromedon.

The fact that it came as a surprise is a testament to Stone's acting skills. Throughout the 118-minute film, she keeps viewers guessing with a complex game that may require multiple viewings to fully understand.

“Emma talked a lot about the fact that it was her first time performing and she felt she needed to be aware that people were seeing the film a second time. What would repeat viewers think,” Tracey says. “She knew that the second time anyone saw this film, They know that I know that I… You know?”

Tracy pauses before adding, “So she had to factor that into her performance.”

Design of the Andromedons and their spaceship

Once Stone's character finally reveals her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her spaceship and other aliens. Bugonia ends. Their ship has a unique design, which Tracy said was meant to look like a sea creature while avoiding high-tech visual effects.

“[Yorgos] I was really interested in the jellyfish design of the spaceship, something quite organic,” says Tracy.

They must feel strangely tribal or primitive.

The Andromedons' clothing is as interesting as their ship: bulging, dress-like garments made from large strands of rope. Once again, the goal was to go against the conventions of science fiction cinema.

“As for the costumes, they are not futuristic, but [were meant to] I feel weirdly tribal or primitive, but at the same time quite ornate and not primitive, because these weird knitted suits have such intricate and beautiful patterns on them,” says Tracy. He adds that Lanthimos “thought of it as a very ancient civilization. He didn't like the idea of ​​something sleek and silvery or some kind of cutting-edge space vision.”

The end of the world (or just humanity)

Perhaps the biggest difference between Bugonia And Save the green planet is that in the original Korean film, the aliens respond to the abduction and violence of their leader by blowing up planet Earth. Bugonia takes a slightly more subtle approach: aliens decide to wipe out all human life while leaving the planet and its other inhabitants untouched.

“What I wanted to do with the script was a vision of Earth after humanity,” says Tracy.

In the final minutes of the film, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All the people lie dead where they stood a moment earlier, but the world continues to turn. What we as viewers are supposed to make of all this is up for debate. Is the ending Bugonia optimistic or pessimistic? Is humanity doomed or worth saving? Would the world be a better place without us?

Tracy doesn't want to give a definitive answer anyway.

“Some people think it's a very dark ending or a sad ending, a hopeless ending,” he says. “Other people see it as a weird hopeful or happy ending. I think there are different ways to read it.”

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Bugonia It is currently in limited theatrical release with a wide release on October 31st.