After a string of solid yet forgettable studio fair (Hunter, Rules of Engagement), William Friedkin truly got to let loose with Bug.
Friedkin’s first collaboration with writer Tracey Letts (who adapted his own play), Bug stars Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon as embattled souls and newfound lovers who share the same paranoid madness that they are infested with bugs planted by the government.
A gruesomely effective thriller dripping in paranoia, Bug provided Friedkin with the perfect foil in Letts, whose dark, gruesome, and chilling story of love and madness is given new life under Friedkin’s direction.
Shannon and Judd are both terrific in their roles, going all out in their depiction of insanity made flesh. Bug also proves that Friedkin, by this point an almost forgotten filmmaker, still had what it took to capture an audience and make them squirm.
