BigBug

After many poor projects on Netflix I have almost resigned to see something refreshing. BigBug is nothing more than conversation comedy in dystopian future with fancy CGI and blue screen effects. It reminds me another wonderful piece Le Dîner de cons. French was always excellent in these kind of movies only sometimes too slow and too long. If you take it like this and don't be lazy to read subtitles, of course if you don't speak French, you will be awarded with almost two hours of inteligent fun and extremely hilarious characters. I especially enjoyed Claude Perron as Monique.

While "BigBug" could work great as an opera, musical or theater play, Netflix put this dystopian view of an AI controlled future right into their streaming service. It is about a family and their peers trapped in a suburban home. Most of the story takes place in the living room reminding me of old sitcoms. Sure it must be more fun to watch it in the original French language, since the tone of voices and the grimaces of the actors work best this way.

The visual presentation is great, considering the small budget of roughly 13.000.000 EUR. What amazes me is that the faces of the robots are constantly manipulated through facial AI or some sort of enhanced sfx. The music is held mostly classical with orchestral instruments. Fans of G. Rossini will certainly be pleased.

However the story could have been more entertaining. The characters are well enough drawn, but the repetition of events like the misshapen new romance always goes back to square one and this stretches the movie for too long. Anyway if you are in the age of the cast you might have a good laugh with this dystopian comedy.

I was very hopeful when this movie started but as it got further along it never really took off. There doesn't ever seem to be a real point to this movie. The goal of getting out of the house is limited and does not occupy the movie enough. The movie seems to be all over the place with no real direction. There is all the flirting with no conclusion and it does not keep attention for the movie to be worth watching. The robots "taking over" is also a weak theme in the show and not captivating enough to make the movie worth while.

Jeunet is back and it's amazing what he can do on a tight budget.

It's a smart film, unfortunatelly with a small world building and with a running time of about 2 hrs, it feels like there could have been more substance to make this movie greater.

Nevertheless, it's an over-the-top sci-fi comedy with great actors and stunning production values, set designs and effects.

Somewhere between Blade Runner, The Terminator, Delicatessen and Jaques Tati, this movie is recommended for everyone who is fed up with all that american sci-fi uniformity. Bigbug is entertaining and crazy and shows again, why Jeunet is such a gifted filmmaker.

Watch and enjoy the trip.

Very French and very funny film that even manages to give beautiful reflections on life and humanity with an ironic and negativist look at the technology of the future. The plot is very nice and the film is very good even if shot in one place, all the characters are characterized very well and the robots are also very well done.