Bug (2006 film)

The film opens with a dead body in a strange looking room. We then meet Agnes White, who is a waitress at a gay bar living in a run-down motel in rural Oklahoma. Unable to move on from the disappearance of her son some years previously, she engages in drug and alcohol binges with her lesbian friend, R.C. Lately, she has been plagued by silent telephone calls that she believes are being made by her abusive ex-husband, Jerry Goss, who has recently been released from prison.

One night, R.C. introduces Agnes to Peter Evans, a drifter who says he is a recently discharged soldier. Agnes and Peter reach out to each other out of loneliness, and start a relationship after Jerry visits Agnes. He convinces her that he was the subject of biological testing by the U.S. government while he was in the military, and says the anonymous phone calls she has been receiving were made by government agents in anticipation of his arrival. After they have sex, Peter tells Agnes that their room has become infested by bugs sent there by the government as part of their experiments.

Peter's movements and behavior become more erratic as he fights the bugs, invisible to the audience, that he claims are infesting his body. Agnes soon joins in this behavior. R.C tries to convince Agnes to leave Peter, and mentions that a man named Dr. Sweet is looking for him, but is sent away by Agnes after Peter has an episode. Over time, they isolate themselves from the outside world, sealing themselves in their room and covering it with flypaper and aluminum foil and lighting it with the glow from bug zappers. Peter, believing that a colony of microscopic bugs was implanted in one of his teeth, tears it out of his head. Using a child's microscope, he says he sees the bugs in the remains of the crushed tooth, as does Agnes.

A Dr. Sweet arrives, and tells Agnes that Peter has escaped while under treatment at a mental institution and that delusions about insects are a known symptom of Peter's mental illness. Peter kills Sweet, telling Agnes that he was a robot sent by the government. Together, Peter and Agnes elaborate upon Peter's beliefs in a conspiracy, including that Agnes' son was kidnapped by the government to lead her and Peter to meeting and that each of them is infected with bugs that are meant to mate with one another and take over the world. In order to prevent this, Agnes and Peter douse each other in gasoline and set themselves on fire.

In the end credits, the audience sees the toys in Agnes and Peter's room completely intact, with no sign of the aluminium foil, and opening shot of the film with the body of Dr. Sweet, in the room covered with foil but undamaged by fire. Which shot, if any, shows "reality" is left unclear.

• Ashley Judd as Agnes White
• Michael Shannon as Peter Evans
• Lynn Collins as R.C.
• Brían F. O'Byrne as Dr. Sweet
• Harry Connick, Jr. as Jerry Goss

The film score was composed by Brian Tyler,[13] with additional music by Serj Tankian. The end title song "Disappearing Act" was written and performed by Chris Cornell.[14] Jay Faires was the film's music supervisor.

Distributed by Lionsgate, the film premiered in May 2006 in France in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.[16]

The film received its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2006, in Austin, Texas. It opened in the U.S. at 1,661 theaters on May 25, 2007. In its opening weekend it earned $3.24 million, and ranked as number four, of the most-seen films of the weekend, placed behind the popular franchise films Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Shrek 3 and Spider-Man 3.[17]

It was released to theaters in France on February 21, 2007. It drew praise from most critics in France, but did not reach the top in the box office.[18][19] In its opening week in France, it ranked as number twenty of the most-visited films of the week, and earned $216,244 from sixty-six screens.[20][21]

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. As of June 2020, the film holds a 62% approval rating of review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 133 reviews with an average rating of 6.25/10. The consensus states: "Disappointing resolution aside, Bug uses its claustrophobic setting and cinéma vérité camerawork to tense, impressive effect."[25] Metacritic reports an average score of 62 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews" based on 29 reviews.[26]

On May 22, 2006, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert wrote, "The film has caused a stir at Cannes, not least because its stars, Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon, achieve a kind of manic intensity that's frightening not just in itself but because you fear for the actors."[27] Judd was praised for her performance by critic Dennis Dermody from Paper, who wrote: "Ashley Judd gives a raw, shattering Oscar-worthy performance." Stephen Schaeffer from the Boston Herald called it "one of the most disturbing horror movies imaginable."[28] The film received generally positive reviews from the U.K. media, receiving three out of five in The Guardian.[29] It was also critic Mark Kermode's film of the week on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Despite the praise, CinemaScore gave it a rating of F based on surveys from general audiences;[30] as of April 2020, it is one of only 22 films to receive such a rating.[31]

• Official website
• Bug at IMDb
• Bug at Box Office Mojo
• Bug at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bug at Metacritic