Bug

Bug

Directed by: William Friedkin

Starring: Ashley Judd

Genre: Thriller

Run Time: 102 min.

Release Date: May 2007

On The Web: Official Site

Teaser: Movie Trailer

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

Based directly on the stage play by the same name, BUG will most certainly get under your skin. Although thriller in nature, horror fans should be warned that there are no supernatural or superhuman elements in the story. Looking at the DVD cover, one gets the impression that it might be a spin-off of something along the lines of Alfred Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS, but Bug couldn’t be further from it. No mutant grasshoppers. No aligning of planets that results in bloodthirsty arachnids.

Stage play actor Michael Shannon reprises his role on the silver screen as drifter Peter who falls for lonely waitress Agnes played by Ashley Judd. Agnes is damaged goods to begin with; a woman who’s lost her only child to a kidnapping and drowns herself in liquor and cocaine. And when she meets Peter, she believes she may have found someone to connect with other than her abusive ex-husband Jerry (Harry Connick Jr., THE IRON GIANT). But Peter brings with him his own unique brand of psychological luggage. A battered U.S. veteran who possibly was exposed to torture, Peter begins showing cracks in his psyche soon after their first romantic encounter. He claims that bugs are in the room with them. Then the bugs are in him. Then in her. Then everywhere and involving everyone. The paranoia reaches a crescendo that culminates in the death of someone trying to help Peter and Agnes, and the eventual destruction of everything around them.

First let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. There are no bugs. We, the audience, don’t see a single flea. The bugs are internalized as demonic aphids implanted in Peter (Shannon) by military higher-ups. As Peter’s paranoia builds, he brings Agnes right along with him, and it’s a painful and frightening thing to watch. Initially having hopes that the two might be able to help one another, the story rapidly gives way to the psychological horrors of what happens when mentally damaged people feed off one another like ...well ...like bugs.

Second is that the story, too, is completely internalized, both character-wise and on the set. The entire production basically takes place in one room: Agnes’ rundown hotel room in the middle of nowheresville. Don’t expect panoramic shots of beautiful locales.

Third is that this story is exceptionally dark. There are no good and bad people, per se. Agnes’ abusive ex is initially seen as a no good asshole but later becomes a beacon of hope for survival. Even a psychologist who comes in to try and help Peter is damaged in that he’s hooked on cocaine himself and seems only passively interested in telling the truth.

For horror fans, this one’s going to disappoint. But if you’re a psych major or interested in paranoid delusions and how far down those people can sink, Bug will crawl right up your alley.