Bug

I really enjoy thrillers. There’s just something about a movie that leaves you guessing about the end right up to the closing credits. You may know who the villain is, but the film makers have done their job adding scenes that make you unsure. “Bug” isn’t that kind of movie. There’s nothing surprising from beginning to end. I’m not sure why some critics have called the end surprising and disturbing. It is simply a natural consequence of sin in the world.

The one thing that does disturb me is that there isn’t a single, positive role model throughout the movie. Of the two main characters, Peter is supposed to be a psychotic ex-soldier and Agnes appears to be a bi-sexual that has her own mental and emotional problems. After that comes Jerry as Agnes’ abusive ex-husband, Dr. Sweet is a conniving… (military doctor?) who can’t be trusted and R.C. is Agnes’ lesbian friend and coworker.

There isn’t really a lot that can be said about the plot. Agnes (Ashley Judd) is a waitress at a tavern and lives in a rundown rural motel. After her ex-husband gets out of prison he begins making harassing phone calls to her. R.C. (Lynn Collins) introduces Agnes to Peter (Michael Shannon), but also wants to have her own sexual relationship with her. The two women exchange intimate touches and kisses. It doesn’t take long to realize that Peter has some serious mental issues, but Agnes keeps getting more taken in by him and his emotional instability. It gets even worse when the two of them start seeing bugs in their room. R.C., Jerry and Dr. Sweet each try to get Agnes and Peter separated, but to no avail. R.C. is the most stable character in the movie. When she tries to get Agnes away from Peter, however, she does so more like a jilted lover than a true friend.

I guess you could sum up the plot this way. A drifter moves in with a girl. The drifter sees bugs but the girl doesn’t. The more bugs the drifter finds, the more the girl does as well, but no one else sees bugs. The girls “friends” try harder and harder to get her away from the drifter until… (sorry no spoilers).

Horror fans will be greatly disappointed because there are more horror elements in a lot of action or even drama movies than in “Bug”. That said, there are two scenes of horror in the film. The first is when Peter realizes the military planted a bug’s egg sack under his tooth. We watch him yanking it out using pliers with bloody results. The next is when Dr. Sweet visits the home trying to get Peter back. Peter stabs him several times and tries to show Agnes that the doctor is really a robot made of synthetic material. The movie has no lack of foul language, and the F-word is the most prevalent, being used more than 60 times. There are at least 60 other cuss words as well, including about 20 misuses of God’s name.

The number of minutes spent on real or implied nudity seemed to far outweigh the time spent on horror scenes. The two major scenes of the movie have both the main characters walking around in the buff or having sex. Some of this is implied, but we still see full male and female rear nudity a few times, and a naked couple having sex once. There is also female frontal nudity above the waist and full frontal male nudity. The man’s genital area, however, is obscured by lighting, and what is seen is a silhouette.

The whole premise of “Bug” is about relationships—not little creatures on the skin. As such, its teaching is contrary to what God says we are supposed to be like. The movie seems to say that no one can be trusted. And while it is true that we can’t go beyond reason in regard to trusting other people, there are people who are trustworthy around us. And even more so, there is one we can trust 100% of the time—Jesus Christ.

I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone. Those who like the horror or thriller genres will probably be disappointed, and wish they had their money back. Also, the language and sex/nudity attacks the senses too much to make it enjoyable. It would be better to go out and watch one of the blockbusters.

Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Extreme / Sex/Nudity: Extreme

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative
• Young people