Big Bug (2022) User Reviews

Too odd and delightful not to rate high

[thejdrage · 8/10 · 15 February 2022]

I watched this film because I loved Amélie". It is NOT Amélie, but just as delightful in many different ways on its own.

The colors and CGI are what pulled me in and wouldn't let me stop watching if I wanted to. The inventiveness of this futuristic space is fascinating - and one I kinda like!

The AIs he created are very much their own characters and they play a big part in this film about .......... AIs.

It is whimsical, funny, silly. And you're invited along for the ride!! Hope you enjoy it as much, if not more than I did!

Nice

[gianmarcoronconi · 8/10 · 11 April 2022]

Very French and very funny film that even manages to give beautiful reflections on life and humanity with an ironic and negativist look at the technology of the future. The plot is very nice and the film is very good even if shot in one place, all the characters are characterized very well and the robots are also very well done.

crazy, artsy, impressive, smart, funny, shallow, little substantial over-the-top Sci-fi Comedy Satire

[Shadowboy_25cm · 7/10 · 21 February 2022]

Jeunet is back and it's amazing what he can do on a tight budget.

It's a smart film, unfortunatelly with a small world building and with a running time of about 2 hrs, it feels like there could have been more substance to make this movie greater.

Nevertheless, it's an over-the-top sci-fi comedy with great actors and stunning production values, set designs and effects.

Somewhere between Blade Runner, The Terminator, Delicatessen and Jaques Tati, this movie is recommended for everyone who is fed up with all that american sci-fi uniformity. Bigbug is entertaining and crazy and shows again, why Jeunet is such a gifted filmmaker.

Watch and enjoy the trip.

Conical PSA Warning on the Risks of AI Robots

[iquine · 9/10 · 19 February 2022]

This is a wildly zany film showing the risks with relying too much on AI robots. If humans give them too much control and they get too clever, they can control us, treat us like zoo animals or even destroy us. When humans rely on robots to do everything for them, from the complex to the mundane, something could go haywire. In 2045, an extended family and neighbor get trapped in their own house. All the robot's safe guards and human overrides fail and they desperately try to escape. At the same time, the robots also strive to learn what it truly means to be human as they end up doing silly things and try to comprehend romance. The house is very futuristic so there are many interesting concepts to enjoy. Almost reminiscent of a Jacques Tati film. With that in mind, the film works in many levels. Futuristic cleverness, robot AI comedy and the heavier topic of human reliance on robots to manage our lives. This also has the first COVID-19 joke I've ever heard. This is a fresh new satire as you watch to see if and how they will escape!

Surreal Dystopian Future

[icocleric · 7/10 · 12 February 2022]

The pacing was a little off at parts, many the film was a little too long, but overall it was very enjoyable. It was pretty unexpected and weird for a dystopian future, but it had a lot of nice touches.

I loved the fact their was AI that wanted to help the humans in the situation. The humour was pretty cool too, and it certainly was an interesting watch.

The ending was pretty great too!

A Quirky Film

[ladymidath · 10/10 · 15 February 2022]

First of all I love the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet. I loved Amelie, The City Of Lost Children and Delicatessen so that was what made me watch Bigbug and I was not disappointed.

It was a funny and quirky with laugh out loud moments, but it also tackled some very real world problems, such as Fascism, or any kind of authoritarian rule. Only this is shown as an android uprising. It's a great watch and for anyone who likes sci-fi, and/or dystopian stories, or even just something a bit different, I strongly recommend this movie.

Remarkably accurate; energetic

[TheVictoriousV · 6/10 · 27 February 2022]

In its first five minutes, Bigbug already seems more eerily prescient than most of its genre relatives. It may look like Blade Runner or A. I: Artificial Intelligence, but as it's been made by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie; The City of Lost Children), it guarantees a playful, unpredictable, and unique take on the familiar concepts we're about to see. However, what truly struck me was the all-too-accurate particulars:

We've seen this idea before. Mankind at the mercy of machines. But the additional detail of half-naked people on (literal) leashes -- acting like domesticated animals for all screens to see -- makes it seem especially accurate. Just think of the digital age we're already in, and what some people willingly film themselves doing via their Twitch, TikTok, and OnlyFans channels. (The attention they garner is their reward and it also rewards the website, the algorithm, the machine...) When we first see the visual, it's admittedly a piece of in-universe entertainment, but it foreshadows things to come.

We move into the film's "real world" and things continue to seem clairvoyant, as a robotic maid serves up a nice batch of grilled crickets (an environmentally friendly and Greta Thunberg-approved delicacy, so I'm told) for her masters and their arriving guests. The movie is in French and so there's a pun here: Cricket is "grillon" (likely derived from the Latin "Gryllidea"), ergo they are eating "grillons grillé".

There's more. We learn that handshakes have been replaced with elbow nudges because of you-know-what and that drones and voice-controlled programs are being used for whatever drones and voice-controlled programs could possibly be used for. The further into Bigbug we get, it gets crazier -- yet more and more believable at the same time.

Some of those "jokes" seem dated now, sure, but as hopeful as things are starting to appear, I'm willing to guess we're only a few weeks away from a COVID variant -- brought forth because y'all just can't sit the f-ck still and leave the vacationing/clubbing alone for a while -- that "necessitates" a government anti-handshake mandate. Oh, did that sound disturbing? Why? Are you an anti-vaxxer?

Anyways. What's the actual plot about and why is this family in lockdown? Well, it's your basic uprising of machines -- that feared moment in our future where the devices and programs we've created to serve us finally turn on us (after backfiring in predictable ways, as with the self-controlled cars that go on strike when the plot gets started). Again, the idea itself is familiar, but Jeunet gives it his usual eccentric flair that sets it apart from any other movie on Netflix right now. His weird and expressive characters are as fun as ever, but I really missed those calculated chain-reaction sequences where one microscopic accident may cause a massive development.

As per usual, Jeunet's cast is nonetheless having a blast. Dominique Pinon is a given but I also recognized Elsa Zylberstein from 2008's I've Loved You So Long and Isabelle Nanty from Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra. Leading the androids, or at least the "Yonix" types who already control much of the world's information and law enforcement, is François Levantal, host of the TV series Homo Ridiculus I mentioned earlier. His equal-parts hilarious and threatening performance is a highlight amongst highlights.

Claude Perron is equally wonderful as the maid, a largely humanoid robot who, like many 'bots of old, yearns to discover what truly makes one "human". One of the human characters, meanwhile, has a moment where they begin to seem more like a programmable piece of intelligence. This doesn't lead to much, but it's certainly true that, whereas machines are starting to seem more and more alive, many humans appear less free-thinking, or just less inclined to be "truly" alive -- mortal. I won't bore you with my own thoughts on that but let the record show that my favorite Black Mirror episode is the one where V. R. and W. B. E. Are used to effectively unlock The Afterlife.

As distinctive as Jeunet is, he clearly owes a lot to classic sci-fi (the universe of The City of Lost Children has been named a "steampunk" wonderland worthy of Jules Verne) and perhaps even more to Terry Gilliam. Bigbug, in particular, reminds one of 2013's The Zero Theorem, a film that effectively seems lost (I hardly need to tell you where the Orwell reference is). Due to some cheap-looking VFX and a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion, I'm unable to give this one of my higher ratings. That said, I think people's complaints are majorly unfounded.

Even if you ignore its wild imagination and energy, you shouldn't worry this is some basic "technology = bad" screed at the end of the day. Au contraire, technology is what we make it.

Started out really well

[faithless4734 · 5/10 · 21 February 2022]

I was very hopeful when this movie started but as it got further along it never really took off. There doesn't ever seem to be a real point to this movie. The goal of getting out of the house is limited and does not occupy the movie enough. The movie seems to be all over the place with no real direction. There is all the flirting with no conclusion and it does not keep attention for the movie to be worth watching. The robots "taking over" is also a weak theme in the show and not captivating enough to make the movie worth while.

Didn't find it funny

[foxtografo · 4/10 · 15 February 2022]

It's just quirky humour but it didn't work for me. That's why the reviews are so polarised.

True, the visual aspect is interesting, even though definitely not very original, I've definitely seen this before quite a few times, it has lots of similarities with many previous Sci-Fi including movies, series and video games.

What failed terribly for me is the writing, and maybe the directing too, I'm actually quite surprised and disappointed on J. P. Jeunet.

The story is not only silly in a bad way, it's quite unfunny and awkward.

The acting and dialogues are very cheesy and the pace dragged quite often, making me lose interest in what was happening.

The background stories giving context to the world was very poorly executed and was quite nonsensical too many times.

Overall, I give some points to the setting and visual style of the movie, but there's not much more than that I enjoyed.. Big disappointment from such an interesting director.

By the way, one more time I read so many reviews blaming Netflix for a bad movie, what is it with those people? How ridiculous!

Dystopian 2035 controlled by AI

[Reenoeh · 7/10 · 11 February 2022]

It's like a very long goofier episode of blackmirror. The overall plot AI vs humans, what does it mean to be human and the danger of AI is interesting and makes you really hate AI. LOVED that part. I really hope it never goes that far but seeing how many people already love being spied on by their Alexas just because their phone does it too is disturbing.

The romance parts were repetitive and not interesting to me. The main romance was actually quite uncomfortable, standing awkwardly close and interacting very hastily and clumsily. Didn't care for the teenage romance.. other than that the plot is too drawn out but it was not painfully slow. The trailer pretty much tells the whole plot except for one slight twist in the end. It's fine but not outstanding.

I am giving this one a 10 WHY?????

[javiergarcon · 10/10 · 15 February 2022]

First Switch the Audio to French Language (Original) Then caption to English, For some reason the emotional French language is so very different from the English language and you can see for your self, after every breath, smile, emotional sarcasm or even a look it just so different than the English Audio. Now the 10 Stars goes to where they spent so much money into creating the technology, the illusion of technology, and the ideas of how our future might be if Artificial intelligence takes over this is how it would be. The people that give this a 6 to 1 star rating are in denial, are in fear of Artificial Intelligence and feel that this will never happen to them! This movie is a possible future of how Artificial Intelligence can take over if it was given complete control over everything. I like how the girl in this movie mentioned to the teenage boy "Leo" Played by Helie Thonnat, He is asked specific personal hygiene questions that matches a specific figure in history and the Teenage Girl Nina Barelli played by Marysole Fertard says to Leo your exactly like "HITLER" The boy just shrugs and has no idea who Hitler is because schools don't teach about World War 2 anymore in the future and have forgotten the past wars. In there future the Monuments have been taken down and nothing from the past no longer exist unless your looking for it in a museum. I really enjoyed this movie because this is exactly what I warned my son about if he doesn't hold on to our history if not his generation is going to repeat our mistakes. If not his generation his children or grandchildren's generation. Now why is this important to me? I am not going to be alive! Well I would like to think everything I am doing today would be remembered some how and I am doing all of this for some reason. I hope we are not a victim of a massive depressive episode of no one remembering us. If you cant remember your past relatives then don't expect anyone to remember you! So if you want to be remembered then celebrate your past relatives and have the world remembered them. That is how we live forever!

Ambitious sci-fi comedy from France left me cold

[paul-allaer · 5/10 · 20 February 2022]

As "BigBug" (2022 release from France; 111 min) opens, we are introduced to Alice, a recently divorced woman who is at home with her household. The TV news tells us it it "April 20, 2045" and AI robots rule society. Alice's ex-husband stops by with his new girlfriend, as does Alice's neighbor. Then out of the blue the house is sealed off by the household's main robot, resulting from unrest on the outside...

Couple of comments: this is the latest from French writer-director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Amelie"). Here he brings us a tale from the not-too-distant future, where AI rules the world and humans are reduced to fumbling stumbling second-rate beings. Much of the movie is set at Alice's house, and as a result this has a very theatrical feeling to it. Jeunet makes some astute observations along the way, but the movie is sunk by one glaring defect: as I was watching this, I felt zero emotional attachment to or investment in any of these characters. Yes, we watch and we observe. But that's about it. Even though it's billed as a comedy, I didn't really laugh or just chuckle as I was watching this. That said, one must admire Jeunet's ambition in coming up with the overall concept. If it weren't for the deep resources/funding by Netflix, I doubt that this movie could even be made.

"BigBug" premiered on Netflix last week. I happen to read up a positive review about it in the New York Times, and that was enough to make me want to check it out. In the end, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Ambition and ideas come about plenty, but the overall final product left me strangely unattached and not all that interested when all was said and done. Of course you don't have to take my word for it, so if you are in the mood for a sci-fi comedy unlike anything you've watched before, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

A dystopian French production about a quirky ensemble facing the downside of AI controlled future

[Chris_Ego · 6/10 · 15 February 2022]

While "BigBug" could work great as an opera, musical or theater play, Netflix put this dystopian view of an AI controlled future right into their streaming service. It is about a family and their peers trapped in a suburban home. Most of the story takes place in the living room reminding me of old sitcoms. Sure it must be more fun to watch it in the original French language, since the tone of voices and the grimaces of the actors work best this way.

The visual presentation is great, considering the small budget of roughly 13.000.000 EUR. What amazes me is that the faces of the robots are constantly manipulated through facial AI or some sort of enhanced sfx. The music is held mostly classical with orchestral instruments. Fans of G. Rossini will certainly be pleased.

However the story could have been more entertaining. The characters are well enough drawn, but the repetition of events like the misshapen new romance always goes back to square one and this stretches the movie for too long. Anyway if you are in the age of the cast you might have a good laugh with this dystopian comedy.

Amazing...

[eskimosound · 10/10 · 20 February 2022]

What you would expect from Jeunet, beautiful colours, rich dialogue, good story, fantastical setting, great acting, excellent camera work...I loved it.

Automated life

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 27 February 2022]

How would life be, if we let artificial intelligence take over? Take over as in help us with everything we need. This is actually not so far off - at least for anyone who is into Science Fiction movies. Of course this has also touches of Matrix and other movies where the machines go above and beyond what they are programmed to do or be able to do.

Put a lot of people in one house, lock them inside and you have quite the contained enviroment and a lot of situations to play out. There is enough suspense to keep us on the edge of our seat. Of course a lot of cliches too - but I didn't expect this to go deep or philosphical. It works for what it is.

People That Hate This Are Dumb

[saysjenn · 8/10 · 19 February 2022]

The movie is beautifully made. The cinematography is stunning to look at and the story is a unique play on AI and an extreme view of the future with the good, the bad and the ugly.

I think Americans give it a low rating because it's French and they have to read subtitles. We are lazy. The story is quirky. It made me laugh yet think.

funny sci-fi

[thewalkingpuns · 7/10 · 12 February 2022]

This was fun I have to say. The plot of an AI future where some of them have humans best interest at heart and want to protect them. A group of people get locked in their house. The whole film is about them wanting to escape. But sometimes being human isn't actually being human its more than that. Cast were good and there were some good laughs. The guy that looked like robocop was pretty good to.

Fresh conversation comedy in dystopian future

[petr-adamek · 7/10 · 11 February 2022]

After many poor projects on Netflix I have almost resigned to see something refreshing. BigBug is nothing more than conversation comedy in dystopian future with fancy CGI and blue screen effects. It reminds me another wonderful piece Le Dîner de cons. French was always excellent in these kind of movies only sometimes too slow and too long. If you take it like this and don't be lazy to read subtitles, of course if you don't speak French, you will be awarded with almost two hours of inteligent fun and extremely hilarious characters. I especially enjoyed Claude Perron as Monique.

Potential lost

[ginjaninja-43907 · 5/10 · 16 February 2022]

Great concept but so incredibly strange and quirky. I admit I watched the entire thing but only out of curiosity. The only thing I can think of it would be like is watching a carnival freak show. I really wanted to like it, but alas it was not to be.

Loved it! Akwardly funny!

[mmartic-21937 · 8/10 · 23 February 2022]

Dont listen to negative reviews. They are probably from americans that are not used to european humor. The movie is extremely entertaining! Amazing colors, scenaries, setting, speed, special effects.. Loved the overacting as well, it fitted the script so well!

I dont remember the last time I watched such a smooth sci-fi comedy! I am completely puzzled with such a low rating. Great little movie for family entertainment evening.

A Masterpiece of Comedy SciFi with a serious message

[rekall1900 · 10/10 · 13 February 2022]

Tired of sci-fi that takes itself too seriously? Or comedy sci-fi that is for kids only? Then try this this gem of sci-fi movie art. A serious message {Artificial intelligence advancing and then trying to take over} done in a humorous way so as to be endlessly fascinating and entertaining.

A classic movie that should appeal to sci-fi fans of all ages though the humor is often adult so it might be rated PG by some.

Best sci fi comedy I've ever watched!

I don't get it

[ladyliliroche · 6/10 · 12 February 2022]

It must be a French thing because I really don't get the movie. I watched this because the prev director's work was Amelie and that was one of my fave movie.

The cgi in this movie was wonderful though. I love the set design and colour. But staying in just one location made me feel claustrophobic. But maybe that is the point too.

Some scene is funny, but overall I just don't get it. It was an interesting experience nevertheless.

Fitting the times Movie

[myotherpetisdog · 7/10 · 17 February 2022]

Loved it. A satire or reflection of the last 2 years lockdowns and other freedom restrictions? Yonux Leader reminded me Prime Minister of Canada. Watch it from the perspective of freedom restrictions and you will love it.

The world will never get enough Jeunet

[mccormackmuse · 9/10 · 15 February 2022]

I don't understand the low reviews of this film. I guess people are comparing it to Jeunet's other films but in this modern world of increasingly terrible films, anything Jeunet is breath of fresh air. I'm not only a sucker for this director no matter what he does, but also any future sci fi comedy, as there just isn't enough of this genre to satisfy me.

Absolutely mind blowing! Another great one from jeunet.

[govinda22 · 10/10 · 14 February 2022]

I am in awe at this film. From same director as Amelie, delicatessen, city of lost children (you can tell it is jeunet even if you didnt know), he has his style. Great storyline, aesthetically pleasing, fantasy..all what i sign up for. I won't go into the storyline, but its more that its aesthetically pleasing, humourous, just a joy. I can't wait for this to come out on hard copy. Beautiful film. One of the best directors in the film world. Its art.