Bug
Tags: cult, suspenseful, murder, violence

Plot synopsis:
Opening on a dark evening, Agnes White (Ashley Judd) is a 30-something woman living in a run-down motel in rural Oklahoma. She is smoking a cigarette outside of her motel room when her phone rings. She answers it, but no one says anything. Flustered, she goes about her business, but her phone keeps on ringing. Every time she picks it up, no one says anything. She thinks that it's her ex-husband Jerry Goss, since he just got out of prison and she has a restraining order against him. However, she can't confirm this because the caller never says anything. The next morning, she goes outside and finds a flier for a body shop on her windshield, also noticing that none of the other cars have the flier. She throws it away and goes to the grocery store to buy some food and alcohol, where she is startled by a man reaching for a bottle.That evening, Agnes goes to work where she's a waitress at a lesbian bar. Her best friend and co-worker Ronnie 'R.C.' (Lynn Collins) startles her, and they talk. Agnes wants to come over to R.C.'s house after work, but R.C. tells her that her lesbian live-in lover is fighting a custody battle with her ex-husband for custody of her children and that R.C.'s and Agnes' presence would be a bad influence, but they argree to meet at Agnes' motel room later. R.C. wants to introduce Agnes to a man standing at the jukebox, but Agnes is wary to get back in a relationship so soon.Later that evening, R.C. and Peter Evans (Michael Shannon) arrive at Agnes motel room. The two women drink, smoke dope, snort cocaine, and even make out with each other, but Peter is shy and quiet. While Peter uses the bathroom, they joke that he's probably a serial killer. R.C. gets a phone call and talks loudly while Peter insists that he's not a killer. He's awkward around Agnes, and things get more awkward when he tells her that she's beautiful. R.C. tells them that she has to go back to the bar due to a problem, so she takes off while Peter decides to stay.Agnes asks if Peter would like a drink, but he says that he should probably go. They talk while they walk outside of the motel, getting to know each other better. Agnes asks him if he's gay because he took little interest in her makeout session with R.C., and he says "no". He explains that, like Agnes with R.C., he has experimented with the same sex, but he does not consider himself gay or bisexual or bi-curious like she is. Peter doesn't consider himself much of anything, and claims that he has been alone for a long time. When she asks Peter where he lives, he says that he's "kind of living in-between places" (coded talk meaning that he's homeless). She offers to let him stay the night, and he accepts. While Agnes gets ready for bed, we see that Peter's experiencing some pain in his tooth. During the night, as Peter lays on the couch and Agnes on the bed, Peter looks at the ceiling fan and hears helicopters. He gets up and asks Agnes if she wouldn't mind if he slept on the floor. As they both lay in their places, neither can readily go to sleep.The next morning, Agnes gets up and hears him in the shower. She goes to the kitchen and pours herself some coffee. As he gets out of the shower, Agnes thanks him for making coffee. However, it's not Peter in the shower... its her ex-husband Jerry (Harry Connick Jr.). He gets dressed and gets in an argument with Agnes. She doesn't want him there, and when she brings up their son Lloyd, Jerry smacks her across the face. He doesn't ever want her to bring up his name again, and then Peter returns. Jerry acts very tough around Peter, who appears very weak. Eventually, Jerry warns Agnes that he'll be back and leaves.Peter helps her sit down and gets a rag to hold against her bloodied face. He gets her some aspirin, and takes some himself for his tooth. He tells Agnes that he left earlier to get some breakfast for them at a diner just down the road, and apologizes for taking her motel room key. Agnes tells him about Jerry, and how abusive he can be. Peter asks her if she has a son, and she says she doesn't. Peter knows that shes lying, and she eventually tells him that her son went missing while she took him shopping at a grocery store. She gave up looking for him two years ago, and becomes very emotional when talking about him. She tells Peter that he can stay another night, since she gets afraid at night. Even though he hasn't been with a woman in a long time, Peter says that he would like to go to bed with her.They have sex, and in the middle of the night Peter gets up and turns on a light. He just got bitten by a bug, and he searches the bed for it, waking Agnes up. He finds the bug on the bed, but Agnes can't see it. He holds a lamp with one hand and the bug in another, but she still can't see it. Agnes wants to go back to sleep and tells him that its just a bed bug, but Peter tells her that its not. Its an aphid; plant lice. He tries to explain it to her, but all it does is confuse her. Peter searches the bed for more aphids and gets Agnes to help him. She loves hearing Peter talk, and then he tells her that someone's after him. He refuses to tell her why, and gets dressed in a hurry. Peter doesn't want to get Agnes caught up in his troubles, so hes going to leave. Agnes tries to get him to stay, since she's lonely and doesnt have that many friends. Peter leaves the room and runs away from the motel.Agnes breaks down and cries in the bathroom. Peter comes back and talks to her through the bathroom door. He tells her that he was in the U.S. Army, and that people have experimented on him. He doesn't know what he's infected with, but she might have it too now that theyve had sex. He breaks down and cries, telling her that hes sorry and explains how vicious the scientific experiments were. He escaped from the army, and they have been after him ever since. He decides to stay with Agnes, and they embrace as they hear helicopters near them, which violently shake the room.The next day, Peter has changed the motel room. Fly catchers hang from the ceiling in every room, along with blue bug zappers. He's taken out Lloyd's possessions because he had a microscope, and takes a blood sample from his finger (which he inspects with the microscope). Jerry breaks into the room using a credit card, and Peter startles him. Agnes isn't there, but Jerry has decided to move in. He talks down to Peter, who constantly slaps his own body for bugs. Jerry doesn't see anything, and Peter sees that there are bugs in his blood. Agnes and R.C. enter the room, and both of them get upset that Jerry's there. Agnes and Peter force Jerry to leave after he's rude to everyone. Peter tells Agnes that there are bugs in his blood, but R.C. keeps on talking over him (which upsets him). He tells her that she has bugs in her too, and Agnes says that theyre underneath her skin. R.C. doesn't see any bugs anywhere, but Agnes decides to show her by cutting into her arm with a paper clip. R.C. tells Peter that they went to the hospital, and the doctors didn't find anything wrong with Agnes. Peter's upset that she went to see a doctor, and R.C. tells them that there's nothing wrong with him either. Peter lifts up his shirt and shows that his body has several scratches on it.R.C. tells Peter that a man came in to see her at the bar, looking for him. The man's name is Dr. Sweet, and wouldn't tell her anything else specific. Peter grows upset that Dr. Sweet knows where he is, and that R.C. can tell him whenever she wants. R.C. tells Agnes to pack her stuff, and wants her to come live with her for a while (regretting ever introducing them to each other). Peter then takes off his shirt and starts to swat bugs around him. R.C. still can't see anything, but Peter convulses on the bed. R.C. and Agnes wrap him in blankets until he calms down. Agnes then slaps R.C. in the face for trying to take her away from Peter. She tells her to leave and never come back. Shocked, R.C. gets her stuff and leaves the room.Later that night, Peter lies down on the floor, resting his head in Agnes' lap. Even though they haven't known each other for a while, she can't get over how much she loves him. We see that Agnes now too has several scratch marks all over her body. Eventually, Peter comes to the conclusion that he was infected with bugs as part of an experiment, and that they placed several eggs in his tooth. Peter grabs a pair of pliers and rips out his tooth. Agnes wants him to stop, but he then goes to the bathroom and rips out more of his teeth. Very bloody and in much pain, Peter examines his tooth through the microscope and cowers in terror. Agnes looks through the microscope and sees millions of bugs in his tooth.A little later on, Dr. Sweet (Brian F. O'Byrne) approaches the room and knocks on the door. When he does, we see that the room is only lit by the blue bug zappers, and everything is wrapped in tin foil. He tries to convince Agnes to open the door, and she gradually crawls her way towards the door. Jerry bursts into the room and holds her down. Dr. Sweet tells him to leave, saying that he'll handle this. Jerry waits outside, and Dr. Sweet asks where Peter is. Agnes won't tell him, since he told her that Dr. Sweet is the one who experimented on him. Dr. Sweet informs Agnes that Peter is a delusional paranoid, with schizophrenic tendencies. Dr. Sweet claims he's here to help, but she's convinced that he just wants to take him back to the army to conduct more experiments. Dr. Sweet sees a glass pipe on a dresser, which appears to be for smoking crystal meth. He asks Agnes how often she uses it. She says that she takes it whenever she wants, and Dr. Sweet asks her permission to smoke some. He sits down and starts to fire it up when Agnes tells him to be careful, since he's sitting on gallons of gasoline. After smoking a bit, he tells her that he needs her help to take Peter to get help. Medical professionals can operate on Peter and get the bugs out of him. He then tells Agnes that he knows where her son is. Agnes asks if he's alive, and Dr. Sweet nods 'yes'. He will tell her where Lloyd is, if she helps him. Peter then comes out of the bathroom, very bloody from wounds on his chest and face. He holds Dr. Sweet at knife point while Agnes tells him that he knows where Lloyd is. Dr. Sweet prepares a needle behind his back, but before he can do anything with it Peter stabs him in the chest. Peter continues to viciously stab Dr. Sweet to death.Agnes grows hysterical and asks why he killed Dr. Sweet. Peter says that Dr. Sweet is not a human, but an android sent by the army. Agnes doesn't believe him, but Peter insists that Dr. Sweet has artificial blood and that he's a robot. He then goes on a psychotic rant, explaining that every human has been injected with a computer chip at birth since 1982 and that the army has been choosing specific people to be test subjects. During the rant, Peter also says that the microchip turns people into brainless killer zombies, and that Timothy McVeigh was one of them. He figures that none of this is a coincidence, and that Agnes was brought into the situation on purpose. He forces her to think about what she knows that she may not know. More paranoid than ever, Agnes comes to the conclusion that Lloyd was kidnapped by the army, and that the bugs were part of a weapons experiment. We see that the phone is disconnected and hear someone knocking on the door. It's a pizza delivery guy, and they freak out since neither remembering ordering any pizza. They slide money beneath the door and tell the delivery guy to just leave the pizza on the ground. Very cautiously, Peter opens the door and Agnes grabs the pizza. Before they can eat any, Peter grabs a piece and inspects it through the microscope. He sees bugs on the pizza and flips out.They come up with a conspiracy that R.C. is working for the army, and purposefully brought them together so that the experiment could be further carried out. Peter is the drone, and Agnes is the queen bug. They hear helicopters and the room begins to violently shake as they both maniacally laugh. Jerry tries to break his way inside the room, but they block the door with the bed mattresses and Agnes injures his hand with a staple gun. The room shakes uncontrollably from the army helicopters, but Jerry is the only one outside. Fully insane, Peter and Agnes douse the room with gasoline. They then strip naked and douse themselves with gasoline, convinced that they have to kill themselves to prevent the spread of the infection from getting out of the room. Peter and Agnes profess their love for each other. Peter strikes a match, setting themselves on fire and destroying the room as it's immediately consumed by flames.

Review: In my opinion, he had the best performance, he was so intense and he really draws you into the scene and the story.Agnes is a woman who is pretty much on her own, she lives in a cruddy little motel, has an abusive boyfriend who is out of jail and won't leave her alone, and also lost a son a while back in a grocery store.
She asks him to stay anyways, that she's so lonely, and he does, but soon they have delusions of a bug infestation and start destroying each other over something that they swear they can see and is watching them.The story is so beyond intense, I couldn't believe how much this film got to me.
I would recommend this film, I don't think many users are understanding what it's about or are just focusing on the wrong things here, but this movie I warn you is not for the faint of heart.7/10.
I was lucky enough to see the movie in a French theater showing a part of the Cannes film festival selection.If you know William Friedkin mostly for his gritty thrillers or The exorcist, Bug might be a surprise: a single location, 5 characters, no car chase, but still a lot of ambiguity and psychological exploration.Bug actually reminds me of the first Friedkin movies, also based on plays and more interested in character study than spectacular effects.
It's all the more striking that Bug looks like a young man's movie, filled with energy, experimentation, absurd humor and a genuine sense of artistic freedom.
But that's only the beginning...While the trailer for Bug may make it seem like a David Croenberg-type parasite horror film, Bug is really much more of a dark psychological character study.
The characters are convincingly well played, the atmosphere is brooding, and the direction is slickly done.Ashley Judd is terrific as the lonely woman who becomes infatuated with the stranger and Michael Shannon does a strong performance as the ex-soldier who fears he is part of a sinister conspiracy.
Harry Conick Jr. is also great in his supporting role as Judd's abusive ex-con husband.While Bug may disappoint gore-hounds, those that enjoy a good mind-trip will find much to savor in this warped little film!*** 1/2 out of ****.
I've read comments in the IMDb forum for Bug, and some have written comments such as "WORST FILM EVER" and "IT'S NOT A HORROR MOVIE".
The movie "Bug", by William Friedkin, was by far one of the most intense psychological thrillers I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.
There is a scene later in the film when Judd and Shannon are discussing different kinds of bed bugs, and the two are so quick and funny with their dialogue that it seems improvised.But isn't this a horror film?
I've never been a Friedkin fan and I can live without an "Exorcist" DVD."Bug" depicts another kind of possession ,and it shows paranoia as few other movies did (Polanski did it in "the tenant " in 1976).The performances are great ;Ashley Judd plays a part few of her peers would dare: she is matched every step of the way by Michael Shannon .Both,towards the end,reach the extreme limit and their shouting voices are hardly intelligible.From the very start,Judd seems jaded,tired of the world,with no reason to live .Even when you feel safe,you know there's an impending menace ;today we live in a world where nobody can say "it won't happen to me" .The Army experiments (a subject which was already broached in the brilliant "Jacob's ladder" ) are only an alibi ,and anyway,are they real?We see danger where there isn't any and we swallow a pill to soothe our fears .One blip (here a tiny bug) is enough to bring everything grinding to the halt...
This has to be Ashley Judd's best performance yet, and it's a little bit too bad b/c many people won't view it that way.
Bug pretends to be a horror movie wrapped up in a meditation about abused women, drug abuse, love and the military-industrial complex as it pertains to conspiracy laden delusions spouted by a odd mumbling Heath Ledger in Brokeback type drifter played by Michael Shannon.Adapted from a stage play by Tracy Letts this film starts well with interesting and sometimes surprisingly original dialog as would be expected from a semi-successful play.
There's a muscle bound Harry Conick Jr. as Ms. Judd's ex-con ex-boyfriend, there are mysterious phones a ringing, and even references to the Tuskeegee experiments, and I'm sure something about UFO's even though I may or may not have heard that.Basically, this is a movie that starts kind of well and descends quickly into an implausible conclusion that leaves the audience, well at least the audience I was with, to moan derision and to ho-hum all the way home.Not so good.
Unfortunately, it is going to have a hard time finding an audience."Bug" is a filmed play and has more in common with Tennesse Williams and Edward Albee than it does with a typical horror movie.
I would advise people to watch something else at the theater and if you are curious about this movie, save your money and wait for it to come out on DVD.
During the movie my boyfriend made the comment that this film seemed like it was from an off-off-Broadway play, and sure enough at the end we saw that it was indeed based on a play.
I went to a film school and saw many many movies that most people have never heard of that were much more interesting than this load of crap.
This movie will make want to slap your self in the face because it's really honest to God horrible.For all of those people out there who say, "You didn't like it because you didn't understand it", Well, I did.
What all of you DON'T understand is that you were very very easily entertained watching this movie as watching the grass grow.If somebody told me the story by word of mouth *as in the play*, I would probably say that it has an interesting and likable plot, but that's just word of mouth because this movie is by far the WORST I have every seen in my whole entire life.
Agnes feels the same symptoms and the couple believes in Peter's conspiracy theory of the American government."Bug" is a weird low-budget movie, set practically in one location, about paranoia and schizophrenia.
The unpleasant story is very well acted, and Ashley Judd surprised me with a great interpretation of a lonely woman with a tragedy behind that feels attracted by a gentle man with delusional paranoia and schizophrenia tendency brilliantly performed by Michael Shannon.
(It's probably no coincidence that in the last few years, Friedkin has been more active in opera than movies.) The images, the great sound effects, the editing, the weird edgy score by Brian Tyler and Serj Tankian, and the dialog all engage in a kind of symphonic interplay that both articulates the film's early realism and then eventually explodes into hallucinogenic expression.Easily one the greatest American films of the last two decades..
The film attracted more laughs than screams as it got more over the top by the minute.From what I've read the play it's based on is good, the director just turned it into crap on screen.I have no idea why Ashley Judd would want to do a rubbish horror movie at this point in her otherwise good career..
I am a big fan of Ashley Judd and Harry Connick, Jr. After finding out that William Friedkin was directing, I automatically assumed that I would love the film and went in with above high expectations.
So, unless you're a die hard fan of Ashley Judd and you're a big horror fan, don't watch this film.
Director William Friedkin (best known for a little film called "The Exorcist") brings us the tale of a woman (Ashley Judd), her violent ex-husband (Harry Connick, Jr.), her new boyfriend who may be a government experiment (Michael Shannon) and millions of invisible bugs.
I could call this psychological horror, but that's not really accurate -- if it scares you in any way, it's a scare to never do crystal meth.What I liked about the film is when it was over the story seemed pretty concrete and even the stranger elements were wrapped up with a pretty common sense answer.
I have seen people leave a movie theater before but never like this.
I was afraid it would be a movie with killer bugs, but decided to watch it because I like Ashley Judd..
I didn't know that this was a play before I saw the movie and would have liked to have seen the stage version..
As I was sitting in my seat, watching the ending credits for Bug, one of the theater workers cleaning up the theater asked me what I thought of the movie.
When it was over, the main thing I found myself concerned about was not the characters themselves, but wondering where the heck they got so much tinfoil as to cover every square inch and nearly every piece of furniture.Ashley Judd plays Agnes White, a down on her luck waitress at a redneck bar who has been living in a seedy motel the past couple months.
Once I found out that BUG was a psychological film rather than a horror movie, I decided that I definitely had to see it.
Looking for love, she lets Peter (Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road), a paranoid schizophrenic into her life.Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) doesn't hit you over the head with the facts.
did they have a little money left over..in my opinion,the characters were not developed..nor the plot...and it shows here in the IMDb it has Bug 2006...they could have held it longer for release.This is a waste of money and time and only 3 people were in the theater..I guess that was my first clue!But actually it is a "horr-ible" movie!.
But regrettably this a movie that has to create the circumstance for it to exist and be good.Bug is a story about Agnes (Ashley Judd) who lives in a small motel hiding from her abusive husband, Goss (Harry Connick Jr.) One night her girlfriend comes over for a little party with a friend Peter (Micheal Shannon).
What follows is a scary decent into madness.When I said this movie works cause is creates the circumstance, I meant it in the sense that had Peter come to us sprouting out about being part of a secret Army experiment and the government has released bugs to spy on him, any normal person would laugh him off at best or tell him to go F himself while calling the people in white jackets to come get him.
Michael Shannon is a scene-stealer, his quirky, paranoid war veteran one of the most charming performances I've seen in the past few years, and there's a neat extended cameo from Harry Connick Jr, too.The film has plenty of strong moments, a few bits of nasty violence, and a rather silly climax.
I really enjoyed watching William Friedkien's new movie called Bug. It is about a girl called Agnes White(Ashley Judd)who is a 30 year old woman living in a run-down motel in Oklahoma.
And, I like Ashley Judd as an actor.I wasn't disappointed, even though this film is a considerable departure from the previous Friedkin efforts I've seen.Before I wrote this review, I scanned various reviews here and other places and found, first, that viewers either love or hate it  there are no middle ground reviews; and second, all agreed that the film was about paranoid schizophrenic delusions between two people holed up in a dingy motel room, somewhere in the US Midwest.Well, I loved this story and film.
And, while I agree that the story presented between Aggy (Ashley Judd) and Peter (Michael Shannon) is about delusions, I'm now sure it was also about something more  and I don't mean government conspiracies, which figure quite significantly in Peter's ravings to Aggy...The basic narrative is thus: As the phone rings, we're introduced to Aggy, an alcoholic/drug addicted piece of white trash who lives in a dreary motel, works in a local tavern, and has been ten years grieving about the disappearance of her six year old son.
And, Friedkin's direction is equally up to the task; so much so, you don't really think about it, except perhaps, for the repeated use of closeup and extreme closeup framing.This is not a film for children, however: an explicit, brief sex scene; full nudity at times; a scene so bloody, it might flash into your consciousness every time you go to the dentist; and a gory murder that almost matches the level reached in Eastern Promises (2007) would all be too much for immature minds.However, I recommended it for adults, particularly those who like to think about what they've seen.But, when you do see it, make sure you watch the credits to the very end....
The film tells the story of Agnes White(Ashley Judd), who is holed up In a motel room by her lonesomeness.
That is until she makes acquaintance with a paranoid former army veteran Peter Evans(Michael Shannon).Bug is primarily an actors film.
I really don't know what to make of Bug, William Friedkin's bizarre tale of either delusional paranoia OR a sinister government plot to control the masses through the use of genetically engineered parasitic insects: it's certainly one of the strangest and most perplexing films I've seen in recent years, Friedkin messing with his viewers' heads so that they become as unsure about what is reality as the central characters.
Expect low-budget and expect a little 'wooden' acting from the supporting cast (the leading roles are strong), but don't let these elements turn you away from a great story, well-developed characters (the main ones anyways) and a plot that keeps you guessing...I believe this movie is an adaptation of a play which explains the tight dialog.
Ashley Judd is a good actor but I cannot believe she would stoop down to make such a horrible movie.
I was so "bugged" after viewing this latest "friedkin" film that instead of taking the general approach of review and relaying to the reader a synopsis or the plot, I would rather reveal the "purpose" of this grossly blatant mass mind manipulating movie as there are plenty of critiques available in this forum regarding the films aesthetics, the actors and their acting, director and his directing, etc.
While reading keep in mind these lines come from characters who are at the zenith of their schizophrenic state and are delivered with extreme hyper-active paranoid bug-eyed lunacy.Peter: You want to know what's going on?
Both Ashley Judd as "Agnes White" and Michael Shannon as "Peter Evans" deliver these lines in fine delusional paranoid schizophrenic "over-the-top" performances and "over-the-top" is just what the script and the plot call for and for nefarious purposes i must add.
Just like Woody Harrelson's zany "Charlie Frost" character in the recent blockbuster 2012, who was a conspiracy theorist hermit portrayed to come across as a lone nut or kook, this movie was made to make people who know the truth about the New World Order agenda and all too real topics such as world government, population control and reduction through eugenics, R.F.I.D. chips look like psychopaths and to give those pause who would desperately want to go on a Paul Revere Midnight Ride to WAKE UP the townsfolk to talk about such things lest they be labeled a "kook".
i do, however, feel like the people marketing this movie should all lose their jobs and any critical account of this as a horror and that isn't informed of the black comedy element should not be taken as a complete representation of this film..
Oy Vay.The reason why I introduce myself in this way, is that I have held court with some very crazy people, including, Kenneth Anger, and let me tell you, darlings of movie house madness, that last night's viewing of William Friedkin's "Bug" reminded me of all of them, and more.Let's begin.
This was a film that I remember seeing the previews before other movies and thinking that I really wanted to see it.
The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.We start off with images of how the film ends before cutting to Agnes White (Ashley Judd).
The low rating people were duped in to thinking it was a psychological thriller or a horror movie.
This film is so greatly directed that you as the audience start to feel like you are going insane with the characters.
When I watched this film, I knew that something truly messed up would result by the end of the movie.
Great performances by Ashley Judd who plays Agnes White, a divorced single mother whose son is out of the picture; Harry Connick Jr who plays her ex con husband Goss; and Michael Shannon who plays mysterious Peter Evans.
When Peter enters her life, Agnes slowly begins to see the bugs and believe him in every way.
This is one of those films where you take time to get to know the characters, discover fascinating things about them and then get to watch it build to a big gut punch of an ending.
A lot of people are going to be scratching their heads when they leave the theater wondering "Were these real bugs under their skin or was this their imagination?" You may have to watch the movie a 2nd time to solve the mystery, but the clues are everywhere.
Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon and even Harry Connick Jr. did an incredible job in this film.
What makes the movie interesting is watching Agnes and Peter get more paranoid as each day passes.
Rarely do movies that start like this pay off, and I am brutally critical of movies that waste a person's time, but "Bug" gets decidedly wicked towards the end.I can certainly believe people walking out the movie theater during this film.