Bugonia remakes the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet!, changing the kidnapped CEO from a male character to female, played by Emma Stone. This constitutes a gender swap of a central figure.

Bugonia is an English-language remake of the South Korean film Save the Green Planet!, in which the main characters are portrayed by Korean actors as Asian. The remake casts white actors Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons in the central roles originally held by Asian actors, resulting in race swaps.

Family appears peripherally as a source of unresolved trauma for the protagonist, including grief over his mother's coma induced by corporate negligence and a close but isolated bond with his cousin, without portraying or evaluating family structures or norms.