BUG (2007) **1/2 Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Lynn Collins, Brian F. O'Byrne, Harry Connick, Jr. Unnerving and at times precious portrayal of paranoia-induced madness based on Tracy Letts' play about an abused white-trash woman (Judd, giving an Oscar caliber performance in one of her strongest turns in years) whose life takes a drastic change when she meets a seemingly nice, haunted man (Shannon getting his ya-yas out) who isn't all he appears to be when he reveals a psychosis triggered by the delusion he is infested with 'bugs' and transfers his fears onto the gullible lover. Director William Friedkin returns to the fold as a filmmaker to be reckoned with by making the horrors more esthetic and visceral than graphic (but indulges a bit there as well) yet by the finale (if you hang in there throughout the craziness) the viewer is spent in this exhaustive yet original modern-day horror story.
Review of Bug
Bug
(2006)
Exhausting modern-day horror story; Judd gives an Oscar-worthy performance
27 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers