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Loneliness can be a depressive killing feeling that can make anyone go off the deep end. Bug examines the harsh realities of people who go through such a traumatic event, that their lives become a hollow shell of what it use to be. Billed as a horror film, I wouldn't necessarily call it that. Bug deals with the psychological trauma of losing a child, being a war vet and people with mental disorders. All wraped into a depressing and harrowing film that can make your skin crawl.
Agnes is a waitress who lives in a seedy motel room, essentially hiding from her abusive ex-husband who is out of prison. Her best friend brings over Peter and the two of them hit it off. Soon he is staying over because she enjoy the company. But Peter's paranoia about being followed by government officials and doctors eventually bleed into Agnes' own psyche. Soon the two hold themselves up in this motel room, shut off from the outside world while also believing that their room is now infested with bugs that burrow deep into their skin.
Based on the Tracy Letts play, which coincidentally stars Michael Shannon, Friedkin's Bug takes awhile to build up some of the crazy here. We are introduced to Ashley Judd, disheveled and constantly answering a ringing telephone with no one answering. Is the phone really ringing? Eagle-eyed people will see that the light never blinks on the phone and this is our introduction to not only her character, but the mental state of her character. The film makes an effort to brush it off quickly as we get to see her interact with others. Her addiction to drugs is a result of the disappearance of her child. Something that never really affected me before, but now that I myself am a father...terrifies the hell out of me.
She strikes up a relationship with Peter, he seems off from the beginning. But they eventually have sex, which is shot in a complete opposite way from the rest of the film. The scene feels clean, heavenly and something out of a romantic comedy, versus the dark, depressing and dirty feel of the rest of the film. Harry Connick Jr. shows up as the ex-husband and despite his intrusive behaviour, I never really felt like he posed a threat. We see a scene where he strikes her, but he leaves the picture pretty quickly.
The last half of this film, once the bug infestation ramps up, takes the film to levels of disgust that surprised me. The paranoia is high and Peter believes that these bugs burrow into his skin. He reveals his torso, which is covered in blood from his attempts to cut them out. In one of the more disturbing scenes he thinks one is under the cavities in his teeth, I'll let you think about what happens after that.
Both Shannon and Judd give sympathetic and real performances here. They both have monologues with lightning fast dialogue about conspiracy theories and why they can't leave this room, or why the bugs are here in the first place. Knowing that there are people out there with this mental state is depressing and both Shannon and Judd sell their performances extremely well. They bare it all on the screen, literally. Friedkin isn't afraid to make you feel disgusted, claustrophobic and confused. The film mostly takes place at this motel and despite the limited scenery, Friedkin manages to change up the look and feel of this motel as the film progresses.
Bug is a terrifying look inside the mind of depressed and mentally unstable people. Don't watch this while your in bed, you might think that something is crawling up your leg at one point.
BUG
(William Friedkin)
(William Friedkin)
Loneliness can be a depressive killing feeling that can make anyone go off the deep end. Bug examines the harsh realities of people who go through such a traumatic event, that their lives become a hollow shell of what it use to be. Billed as a horror film, I wouldn't necessarily call it that. Bug deals with the psychological trauma of losing a child, being a war vet and people with mental disorders. All wraped into a depressing and harrowing film that can make your skin crawl.
Agnes is a waitress who lives in a seedy motel room, essentially hiding from her abusive ex-husband who is out of prison. Her best friend brings over Peter and the two of them hit it off. Soon he is staying over because she enjoy the company. But Peter's paranoia about being followed by government officials and doctors eventually bleed into Agnes' own psyche. Soon the two hold themselves up in this motel room, shut off from the outside world while also believing that their room is now infested with bugs that burrow deep into their skin.
Based on the Tracy Letts play, which coincidentally stars Michael Shannon, Friedkin's Bug takes awhile to build up some of the crazy here. We are introduced to Ashley Judd, disheveled and constantly answering a ringing telephone with no one answering. Is the phone really ringing? Eagle-eyed people will see that the light never blinks on the phone and this is our introduction to not only her character, but the mental state of her character. The film makes an effort to brush it off quickly as we get to see her interact with others. Her addiction to drugs is a result of the disappearance of her child. Something that never really affected me before, but now that I myself am a father...terrifies the hell out of me.
She strikes up a relationship with Peter, he seems off from the beginning. But they eventually have sex, which is shot in a complete opposite way from the rest of the film. The scene feels clean, heavenly and something out of a romantic comedy, versus the dark, depressing and dirty feel of the rest of the film. Harry Connick Jr. shows up as the ex-husband and despite his intrusive behaviour, I never really felt like he posed a threat. We see a scene where he strikes her, but he leaves the picture pretty quickly.
The last half of this film, once the bug infestation ramps up, takes the film to levels of disgust that surprised me. The paranoia is high and Peter believes that these bugs burrow into his skin. He reveals his torso, which is covered in blood from his attempts to cut them out. In one of the more disturbing scenes he thinks one is under the cavities in his teeth, I'll let you think about what happens after that.
Both Shannon and Judd give sympathetic and real performances here. They both have monologues with lightning fast dialogue about conspiracy theories and why they can't leave this room, or why the bugs are here in the first place. Knowing that there are people out there with this mental state is depressing and both Shannon and Judd sell their performances extremely well. They bare it all on the screen, literally. Friedkin isn't afraid to make you feel disgusted, claustrophobic and confused. The film mostly takes place at this motel and despite the limited scenery, Friedkin manages to change up the look and feel of this motel as the film progresses.
Bug is a terrifying look inside the mind of depressed and mentally unstable people. Don't watch this while your in bed, you might think that something is crawling up your leg at one point.