An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.
- Awards
- 1 win & 7 nominations total
Featured reviews
I've never been a Friedkin fan and I can live without an "Exorcist" DVD.
"Bug" depicts another kind of possession ,and it shows paranoia as few other movies did (Polanski did it in "the tenant " in 1976).The performances are great ;Ashley Judd plays a part few of her peers would dare: she is matched every step of the way by Michael Shannon .Both,towards the end,reach the extreme limit and their shouting voices are hardly intelligible.From the very start,Judd seems jaded,tired of the world,with no reason to live .
Even when you feel safe,you know there's an impending menace ;today we live in a world where nobody can say "it won't happen to me" .The Army experiments (a subject which was already broached in the brilliant "Jacob's ladder" ) are only an alibi ,and anyway,are they real?We see danger where there isn't any and we swallow a pill to soothe our fears .One blip (here a tiny bug) is enough to bring everything grinding to the halt... or to trigger madness ,a madness which will know no bounds .
"Bug" depicts another kind of possession ,and it shows paranoia as few other movies did (Polanski did it in "the tenant " in 1976).The performances are great ;Ashley Judd plays a part few of her peers would dare: she is matched every step of the way by Michael Shannon .Both,towards the end,reach the extreme limit and their shouting voices are hardly intelligible.From the very start,Judd seems jaded,tired of the world,with no reason to live .
Even when you feel safe,you know there's an impending menace ;today we live in a world where nobody can say "it won't happen to me" .The Army experiments (a subject which was already broached in the brilliant "Jacob's ladder" ) are only an alibi ,and anyway,are they real?We see danger where there isn't any and we swallow a pill to soothe our fears .One blip (here a tiny bug) is enough to bring everything grinding to the halt... or to trigger madness ,a madness which will know no bounds .
I'll just come out and say it – I love this movie. But is it a movie? I can't really answer that. Honestly, this doesn't really feel or play out like a movie but maybe that's just me. Keep a few things in mind: this is based on a stage play, the screenplay was written by the author of the play, Friedkin is a big fan of the play, and the lead (Michael Shannon) is from the original production of the stage play. Got that? Good. You know how they say Sam Mendes brings "theater" to the "big screen" (and I say F that) - well, BUG is how theater should exist on film. I don't know, maybe I'm over analyzing. But while I'm over analyzing I'll throw this out there - Michael Shannon gives one of the best performances I've seen in a long time. And screw it - Ashley Judd really surprised me in this too. Harry Connick Jr. is a little dead weight but you can't win 'em all Harry. Mix some old Cronenberg with a pinch of Lynch (can I coin that?), throw it on an Off Broadway stage and see what sticks, then have Friedkin direct it and you've got BUG.
I really enjoyed this movie. Judd was great in representing the suffering of her mental stresses. Shannon also delivers great support and drive, in their madness.
As the movie goes the insanity just keeps climbing and so do the performances.
I think if you disconnect from the movie and develop an 'as if ' attitude you will hate it, however if you buy in, you will connect with the paranoia and have a pretty entertaining if not an itchy time!
Get them off, GET THEM OFF!!!
Haha good fun film
As the movie goes the insanity just keeps climbing and so do the performances.
I think if you disconnect from the movie and develop an 'as if ' attitude you will hate it, however if you buy in, you will connect with the paranoia and have a pretty entertaining if not an itchy time!
Get them off, GET THEM OFF!!!
Haha good fun film
Both Ashley judd and Michael Shannon are amazing in their roles as two codependent delusional addicts.
Well worth a watch as they spiral ever deeper.
And stay tuned for the mid and after credit scene.
Well worth a watch as they spiral ever deeper.
And stay tuned for the mid and after credit scene.
The loser and lonely waitress Agnes (Ashley Judd) lives in a cheap motel in Okalahoma grieving the disappearance of her beloved son Lloyd ten years ago. Her abusive ex-husband Jerry Goss (Harry Connick Jr.) has just left prison on probation and is insistently calling her. When her colleague and only friend, the lesbian RC (Lynn Collins), brings her drifter acquaintance Peter Evans (Michael Shannon) to visit her, they have an affair and Peter stays with Agnes in her room. Peter finds bugs in their bed, and discloses to Agnes that he was a soldier in the Gulf War submitted to experiments by the army and presently he is infested with bugs. Agnes feels the same symptoms and the couple believes in Peter's conspiracy theory of the American government.
"Bug" is a weird low-budget movie, set practically in one location, about paranoia and schizophrenia. The unpleasant story is very well acted, and Ashley Judd surprised me with a great interpretation of a lonely woman with a tragedy behind that feels attracted by a gentle man with delusional paranoia and schizophrenia tendency brilliantly performed by Michael Shannon. This movie is not bad, but it is absolutely predictable; I was disappointed since I expected a surprising twist in the end that never happens. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Possuídos" ("Possessed")
"Bug" is a weird low-budget movie, set practically in one location, about paranoia and schizophrenia. The unpleasant story is very well acted, and Ashley Judd surprised me with a great interpretation of a lonely woman with a tragedy behind that feels attracted by a gentle man with delusional paranoia and schizophrenia tendency brilliantly performed by Michael Shannon. This movie is not bad, but it is absolutely predictable; I was disappointed since I expected a surprising twist in the end that never happens. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Possuídos" ("Possessed")
Did you know
- TriviaDuring the shoot, many of the crew members got rashes from bed bugs in their hotel rooms.
- GoofsThe location of the motel is supposed to be in Oklahoma yet the telephone number on the room's telephone has a 504 area code of the filming location in Louisiana.
- Quotes
Agnes White: I guess I'd rather talk with you about bugs than nothing with nobody.
- Crazy creditsThere is a short scene after the first part of the credits, a telephone rings during the credits, and a brief shot after the credits end.
- How long is Bug?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $7,025,810
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,245,556
- May 27, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $8,095,931
- Runtime
- 1h 42m(102 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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