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Bug

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 79 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by: Tracy Letts (also play)
Directed by: William Friedkin
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 25, 2007
DVD: September 25, 2007
Running Time: 102 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for some strong violence, sexuality, nudity, language and drug use
Starring Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Lynn Collins, Brian F. O'Byrne, and Harry Connick Jr.
Probing the blurry lines between paranoia and nightmarish reality, Bug is an intense, mind-bending psychological thriller in which nothing is quite as it seems. (Lionsgate)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Begins as an ominous rumble of unease, and builds to a shriek. The last 20 minutes are searingly intense: A paranoid personality finds its mate, and they race each other into madness.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Engrossingly manic version of Tracy Letts's great stage play.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The enjoyably icky heart of Bug is still contained within the airless, increasingly ''bug-proofed'' room that becomes Agnes and Peter's whole world.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Has the feverish compression of live theater and the moody expansiveness of film. The mix is insanely powerful.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Steppenwolf alumnus Tracy Letts adapted his play into this fearsome horror movie, directed with single-minded claustrophobia by William Friedkin.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Kamal AL-Solaylee
It's one helluva movie that makes Ashley Judd look ugly and demented, while turning Harry Connick Jr. into the most frightening screen thug since Ben Kingsley in "Sexy Beast."
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Friedkin's latest rivals his Druid horror flick "The Guardian" for sheer lunacy--Bug remains disconcerting, real, and raw. It poignantly suggests that some lost souls would rather be crazy and doomed than alone.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Ashley Judd as Agnes White, and a relative newcomer, the remarkable Michael Shannon, as Peter Evans. They're both spellbinding.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Bug has an uncompromising, anything-goes daring: Friedkin, 71, has nothing to lose at this point, and he has made this low-budget, brazenly over-the-top picture strictly on his own terms.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Tirdad Derakhshani
After nearly three decades of misfires, major and minor, William Friedkin, the creator of "The French Connection," "The Exorcist" and "Sorcerer," is back in true form with Bug. And heaven help us for it.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Rob Nelson
Genuinely freaky-deaky, not to mention more inventively unsettling than anything Friedkin has mustered in the quarter-century since twisting little Linda Blair into a satanic spewer of pea soup and F-bombs.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge
With his (Friedkin) vigorous camera compositions and a talented cast, he manages to straddle a wickedly fine line between taught portrayal of paranoia and parody of paranoia.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
We find ourselves in the fascinating no man's land between horror and comedy -- right where this movie wants us to be.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis
The escalating hysteria and grisly set pieces of Bug may strain credulity, but Ms. Judd has never been more believable as a woman condemned to attract the wrong kind of man.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
As near as I can tell, it's the smallest-scale, lowest-budget, most experimental film Friedkin has ever made, as well as the most thoroughly unpleasant and off-putting -- though it builds a grisly, masochistic fascination as it powers along.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Bug is creepy and hard to dismiss, but it's not a lot of fun and its weaknesses leave a bitter aftertaste.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Buzzes around in random menace for an hour until its third act, when - zzzzzt! - it flies straight into the zapper.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Don R. Lewis
It's a tough one to recommend to everyone. Just know now this isn't a horror film as they're making it out to be nor is it a true return to form for Friedkin. Even so, it's worth seeing but perhaps as a DVD rental further down the road.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Steve Davis
By the end of Bug, you may find yourself scratching yourself as well -- your head, that is -- wondering what the hell this is all about.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A tale of love, desperation and conspiratorial madness, comes off on the big screen as a wacky psychological snow job.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
Creepy and unsettling, to say nothing of gory, but overall it's a little claustrophobic and uneven.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Bug won't get under your skin as much as it will assault you with its ghastly claustrophobic drama and over-the-top performances.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
If you have claustrophobia and/or fear insects, the last film you should see is Bug. I'm not sure it's worth a trip even if you don't suffer from those maladies.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Our traumatized soldiers deserve better representation than this irretrievably ridiculous drama, which will do nothing to revive the flagging fortunes of the man whose career lay down and died after "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection."
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
A ranting, claustrophobic drama that trades in shopworn paranoid notions, William Friedkin's overwrought screen version of Tracy Letts' play assaults the viewer with aggressive thesping and over-the-top notions of shocking incident, all to intensely alienating effect.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
A humorless picture, a somber, arty exercise in deep denial of its exploitation roots. The dialogue is stiff and mechanical and the performances are too.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 4.5 (out of 10) based on 79 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kennedy F. gave it a9:
Tense and totally engrossing. Amazing performances.
Martin Z. gave it a3:
Suspension of disbelief is what my professors & books said about filmmaking... This film, sadly, does not allow me to experience that concept after the first 30 minutes. It starts out very slow and then just gets unbelievable. SPOILER ALERT (kind of) - how do you not get kicked out of a motel with no income...how long does it take for a working, responsible, lonely person to become totally insane (there is NO concept of time in this film, that's why I ask...days/weeks/months/who knows)...why would the ex not pop-in a little quicker once the screaming begins...why would a pizza show up at that moment and nothing come from it - nothing at all... I wanted to like it but the last 20 minutes I had my hand on the remote ready to hit the power button. That's what I get for being curious.
lulu f. gave it a10:
Blew me away! Starts off slow. I actually looked at the CD blurb to see if I had picked up a drama rather than a horror flick. But just hang on. Let the movie steep you like a bag of tea in hot water. The scorch is coming. Hang on! Loved it. Would like to see more filmmaking of this caliber.
M W gave it an8:
Very interesting film. Not at all what I expected (I imagine that's a common observation of this film). I thoroughly enjoyed the ride into madness experienced by Ashley's character, and the gleeful way in which Michael Shannon's character led (not dragged) her into the abyss. I thought both were superb in their roles. And there was just enough of a crack in the door to make you wonder if in fact they were insane at all or if the military really had done something heinous to them (e.g. was the "doctor" really even there?)
Jen C gave it a1:
that was the biggest waste of my time. What is the deal with the bugs, are they really there or are the people just delusional? And was it really necessary to light yourself on fire? The only part that sparked any emotion is me is the pity i felt for Ashley Judd's character, that she needed to be loved so bad that she was willing to put up with psycho path bug boy. Lame.
An awesomely creepy look at how delusion and paranoia can spread. Unbelievable acting. The first half is a little slow, but it becomes more and more creepy as it builds up to a very powerful end. As a Psych major, I ate it up. I have never seen anything else to even begin to compare it to! Unique and clever. A must-see for anyone interested in the human psyche.
Bill B. gave it an8:
Even though I was bored through most of the movie, and the ending wasn't very brutal, or surprising, I still liked this movie. It is not based on a formula, and it is memorable. What more can one ask for?
Suzi P. gave it a10:
I love this movie it totally tore my heart out at the end!
