Bug

"First they send in their drone... then they find their queen."

2007 1h 38m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 647

DramaHorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In Oklahoma, Agnes, a lonely waitress living in an isolated and dilapidated roadside motel, meets Peter, a quiet and mysterious man with whom she establishes a peculiar relationship.

“First they send in their drone... then they find their queen.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Ashley Judd
Agnes White
Michael Shannon
Peter Evans
Harry Connick Jr.
Jerry Goss
Lynn Collins
R. C.
Brían F. O'Byrne
Dr. Sweet
Neil Bergeron
Man in Grocery Store
Bob Neill
Pizza Harris (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: William Friedkin
Writers: Tracy Letts
Languages: English
Countries: Germany, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by William Friedkin, shot by Michael Grady. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Brian Tyler. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Darrin Navarro shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon and Harry Connick Jr. carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "First they send in their drone... then they find their queen.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

William Friedkin directs. Michael Grady behind the camera. Brian Tyler scores. Darrin Navarro cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Germany, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Released 19 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.
4Directed by William Friedkin, shot by Michael Grady. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Brian Tyler. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Darrin Navarro shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon and Harry Connick Jr. carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "First they send in their drone... then they find their queen.".
9IMDB entry: tt0470705 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "friendship", "drug abuse", "isolation", "paranoia".

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Grady
Original score: Brian Tyler
Editing: Darrin Navarro
Production design: Franco-Giacomo Carbone
Makeup / hair: Patrick Melville
Sound: Steve Boeddeker
Runtime: 98 min · 1h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $8,095,658
Return: 202% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Bug (2007)

Also by

William Friedkin

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb280390232022-08-30
★ 6/10
Possession has been a lifelong preoccupation for William Friedkin. He’s addressed it head-on as both fiction and fact, but Bug sees him take a more oblique route. Here’s the story of a man so thoroughly possessed by paranoia that his delusions are contagious. One demon leaves one body to enter another, but an obsession is Legion. Every Michael Shannon performance is arguably his best, but this is a film tailor-made for his fascinating idiosyncrasies. Aphid and spastic, his body language stops short of actually turning into a freaking insect. Ashley Judd, however, has a more challenging role, because not only does she have to sell the transition from sane to crazy, but then she has to catch up with Shannon, go toe-to-toe with him, match his manic intensity — and I’ll be damned if she doesn’t; Judd digs deep and reaches a place of utter darkness and desperation. She stares right into the abyss and doesn’t flinch. Everybody is in point, though; Friedkin and screenwriter Tracy Letts, pull off the rare double-turn (to use wrestling terminology). Harry Connick Jr., who plays Judd’s character’s abusive ex, is all brawn and no brains, while Shannon starts out helpless and meek (his patented, infallible calm-before-the-storm routine); we begin to dread the seemingly inevitable moment when Connick beats Shannon within an inch of his life, only to end up wishing that the former would slap some sense into the latter. The only problem with this film is that it builds so much momentum it just can’t help crashing and burning. It’s so climactic that it actually becomes anticlimactic. There’s no resolution, no catharsis. For all its shock and awe, The Exorcist allows itself a hopeful, optimistic coda; Bug lacks such an escape valve. This time, the Devil wins.

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