Bug (2006 film)

Agnes White is a waitress working at a gay bar while living in a run-down motel in rural Oklahoma. Unable to move on after the disappearance of her young son Lloyd nearly ten years ago, Agnes binges on drugs and alcohol with her lesbian friend R.C.

Agnes is constantly plagued by silent telephone calls that she believes are being made by her abusive ex-husband Jerry Goss, who has recently been paroled. Jerry had previously attempted to murder her, and stalked her prior to his arrest in spite of Agnes filing a restraining order against him. One night, R.C. introduces Agnes to Peter Evans, a socially awkward yet courteous drifter. Agnes quickly strikes up a bond with Peter over their mutual loneliness, and she allows Peter to stay the night. The pair's sleep is interrupted by a malfunctioning smoke alarm, which Peter destroys with a Magic 8 Ball handed to him by Agnes.

The next morning, Jerry barges into Agnes's room while Peter is out getting food. After menacing her, Jerry attempts to reconcile. However, when Agnes insults him, Jerry punches her. Jerry leaves, declaring he will return and pushing a returning Peter out of the way. Peter comforts Agnes, and the two have sex that night.

However, Peter wakes Agnes up in the middle of the night, having apparently found an aphid in the bed. A paranoid Peter kills a number of them, and reveals he is being pursued. However, he refuses to tell Agnes who is hunting him on the grounds it will put her in danger and flees. Agnes, feeling abandoned, bursts into tears and a remorseful Peter returns. Peter reveals himself to be a veteran of The Gulf War. He claims that he was subjected to biological testing by the U.S. government, that the anonymous phone calls were made by government agents in anticipation of his arrival, and that the room has become infested by bugs planted by the government as part of the experiments. Peter's movements and behavior become more erratic as he fights the "invisible" bugs, that he claims are infesting his body.

Over time, Agnes begins to share in his behavior. R.C., who has taken Agnes to visit a dermatologist, is convinced there are no bugs in the motel room. Agnes has also reported to the motel owner that their room has bugs but says he told her none of the other rooms have a bug problem. Peter is furious over these developments. R.C. tries to convince Agnes to leave Peter, mentioning that a man named Dr. Sweet is looking for him. But, after Peter has an episode, Agnes slaps R.C. and tells her to leave. Peter and Agnes isolate themselves, closing the room, covering it with flypaper and aluminum foil to fend off communications, and lighting it with the glow from bug zappers. Peter, believing that a colony of microscopic bug egg-sacs was implanted in one of his teeth, tears the tooth out with pliers. After examining the tooth using a child's microscope, he believes he sees the bugs in the remains of the crushed tooth, as does Agnes. Peter is progressively more obsessed with using the microscope, believing that the bugs are living in and eating his blood.

Dr. Sweet arrives at the motel with Jerry. After Jerry bursts in, Sweet sends him outside. Sweet tells Agnes that Peter escaped from a mental institution where he was undergoing treatment and that delusions about insects are a known symptom of Peter's mental illness. Agnes distrusts Sweet, who goes on to claim that he knows where Lloyd is and that the bugs are in fact real. Sweet attempts to convince her that he can help Agnes and Peter escape from the conspiracy.

Peter appears from the bedroom wielding a knife. As he argues with Sweet, Sweet unobtrusively readies a syringe, preparing to sedate Peter, but Peter stabs and savagely kills Sweet. Agnes is distraught believing that Peter has destroyed her chance of learning more about her son, but Peter insists Sweet was not even human, merely a 'robot' sent by the government. Together, Peter and Agnes elaborate upon Peter's beliefs in an escalating conspiracy, becoming convinced that Agnes's son was kidnapped by the government to lead her and Peter to meet. They believe that each was separately infected with bugs meant to mate with each another (one being the 'drone' and one being the 'Queen') and take over the world. To prevent this, Agnes and Peter decide to douse each other in gasoline. Jerry, furious over his ex-wife's unstable behavior, tries to break into the room but Agnes injures him with a nailgun. Agnes and Peter declare their love for each other before setting themselves ablaze.

During the end credits, various toys in Agnes's room are shown completely intact, with no sign of the aluminum foil. The opening shot of the film is repeated with the body of Sweet lying prone in the foil-covered room which is undamaged by fire. It is left unclear which shot, if any, is "real".

• 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,[10] with additional music by Serj Tankian. The end title song "Disappearing Act" was written and performed by Chris Cornell. 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.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13][14] 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.[15]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 61% based on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Disappointing resolution aside, Bug uses its claustrophobic setting and cinéma vérité camerawork to tense, impressive effect."[19] Metacritic reports a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "F" on an A+ to F scale.[21][22]

At Cannes, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert remarked, "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."[23] A year later, he awarded the film 31⁄2 stars out of 4, describing it in his review as "lean, direct, unrelenting" and calling it "a return to form after some disappointments like Jade." He also acknowledged others' criticism of its single-location setting, which he defended by writing, "There is nothing here to 'open up' and every reason to create a claustrophobic feel. Paranoia shuts down into a desperate focus. It doesn't spread its wings and fly."[24]

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".[19] The film received generally positive reviews from the U.K. media, receiving three out of five in The Guardian.[25] It was also critic Mark Kermode's film of the week on BBC Radio 5 Live.

• Bug at IMDb