by Thomas Ferguson

I am rarely at a lost for words when I walk out of a movie. Today, something happened to me that left me completely baffled. I saw the new release Bug and believe you me, that title only scratches the surface of this off-the-wall thriller.

Agnes White (Ashley Judd) is a down on her luck waitress who lives in a rundown motel in the most remote area of the desert. She is scared that her ex husband Jerry (Harry Connick Jr.) is coming for her. He has been released from prison and is violent and unpredictable. She is afraid he will show up to abuse her because of a past incident that he blames her for.

One night after work, her best friend RC (Lynn Collins) introduces her to a loner named Peter (Michael Shannon), in an attempt to possibly take her mind off of her troubles. Peter seems sweet on the surface, but has qualities that makes people nervous. For some strange reason, Agnes feels completely comfortable and eventually takes him in. They gain the confidence of one another and eventually become lovers.

Before long, he begins to feel bugs crawling and biting him. He believes that his past is catching up to him and that he is a test case for a military experiment. He believes they infected him with bugs after he returned home from the Gulf. Since he had sex with Agnes, he feels that she is also infected.

The two lay hold up in the motel room trying to figure out who infected them, why, and how. Their minds and their bodies succumb to these pests. Are they really the drone and mother of a bug colony or just paranoid?

Wow! What a rollercoaster ride. This movie is odd, confusing, disturbing, and brilliant. Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist) has put together the most outrageous movie I think I have ever seen. The movie starts out a bit slow, but becomes the most revolting, hard to watch, and hilarious thing ever!

It’s camp at its best. The dialogue and the acting were so over the top, but it works here. I actually thought Judd and Shannon gave award caliber performances. This twisted tale will have you squirming in your seat and laughing out loud at the same time. I laughed so hard that I had tears flowing. I couldn’t breathe from the laughter.
This wasn’t a night at the movies; this was an experience I will not soon forget.

The marketing of this movie was a bit off the mark though. It seems like a horror movie from the trailer, but it’s actually a psychological thriller with a few extremely gory scenes. Some people may be a bit upset about that fact, but I found the movie still extremely entertaining.

You will either hate this movie or you will love it. There is no in between. If you like your movies to make complete sense, stay home. If you like something shockingly original, you will love this creative bug fest.