by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
B+ Rated R 102 min
This psychological thriller/horror film plays on the viewer’s deepest fear that tiny insects could gain access to one’s blood stream, lay eggs, and gradually take over one’s body and mind. In the masterfully constructed scenario, directed by William Friedkin, written by Tracy Letts, based on his off-Broadway play, Ashley Judd portrays a struggling waitress, Agnes White, who lives in a seedy motel room. Her abusive ex-husband, Jerry Gross (Harry Connick Jr.) just got out of jail and is harassing her with dead-line phone calls.
Agnes’ best friend, a lesbian named RC (Lynn Collins) also works at the same bar. One night, RC brings a stranger, Peter Evans (Michael Shannon), back to Agnes’ room to party. He’s a quiet type who doesn’t drink or take drugs. His insightful personality appeals to Agnes, who is lonely and desperately needs a friend. He tells her he doesn’t want to sleep with her but he’s not gay. He is between jobs and could use a companion. Agnes offers him a place to stay if he sleeps on the couch.
Of course, Agnes is taking a big chance, since she knows nothing about Peter. And, he has some strange beliefs about government conspiracies and seems to know a lot about insects. After a disagreement, Peter confesses to Agnes that he is an Iraq War veteran who volunteered to have medical experiments performed on his body. After a period of time, he found out that the experiments were about mind control using insects. Most people would recognize Peter’s explanation of the experiments as delusions- symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. However, there was something about Peter’s sincerity that leads her to at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
Soon Jerry shows up and starts beating Agnes, as he had done before being locked up. Peter is there but he doesn’t defend her. Still, Agnes is glad he is around. RC wants to call the cops, but Peter stops her. The last thing he needs is the law showing up and taking him back to being a lab rat. Now, RC doesn’t trust Peter and advises Agnes to come stay with her. But, she wants Peter to stay–he’s all she has to care about. She had even slept with him which, in her mind, spread the bug infestation.
As time goes on, Peter’s obsession with bugs escalates as he tries to cut them out of his skin, leaving wounds over his whole body. Agnes should have taken RC’s advice and left. She is sucked into Peter’s madness and believes she is infested with tiny bugs. At this point, twists and tangents to the story happen to make the scenario unpredictable. Viewers will not be able to figure out where this bizarre story is going.
Ashley Judd was tasked with portraying Agnes’ gradual descent into madness and make it convincing without overacting. She did that with skillful dynamics, but the director clearly nudged her to go beyond a certain point that hovers on overkill. Michael Shannon nails his character’s advancing craziness with convincing realism. Now, Agnes and Peter believe the bugs are multiplying inside their bodies and they are being controlled by the CIA.
The couple’s outrageous belief in a government conspiracy that is producing a race of human bugs is given credence by Peter telling Agnes about the CIA’s infamous LSD experiments to induce mind control and other historically accurate accounts of the CIA dabbling in mind-control experiments. Sadly, Agnes has submitted her will to Peter and, in so doing, is trapped in his web of paranoid delusions–lost in a hellish nightmare.
Soon, the couple has redecorated the room in an aluminum foil motif. A knock on the door sends Agnes and Peter into a frenzy of paranoid speculation. Is it the cops, the CIA, some other covert government agency? No, it’s a strange doctor from the clinic, who wants to take Peter back for treatment. This sets off another round of twists and odd happenings that blow the audience’s mind. The climax depends on how well the actors buildup the tension to critical mass.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
