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I think one of the most horrifying things about this movie is why our two leads hold so steadfastly to their delusions. It’s because it’s their only tangible means of making sense of the horror they experienced. Both Agnes and Peter have gone through horrible, tragic, and painful experiences. And if the bugs aren't real, if there isn't some conspiracy, if there isn't some outside force, then Peter and Agnes have to face that everything that happened to them was literally just random chance. And that would mean all of their suffering was for nothing. The bugs aren't just a shared delusion, but a desperate bid to find meaning in meaningless pain.
its basically a representation of the extreme measures the mind goes through with defense mechanisms, you will enter a fantastical state of grandiose delusion just to cope with trauma, so much so to the extent that it can and potentially will kill you.
Therapist here: I have only met one person (military veteran patient) with Delusional Parasitosis, and my goodness. It ruined their life - they lost their job, developed severe skin infections due to the constant bleaching/picking at their skin. It was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.
Delusional Parasitosis is real too, I worked for a pest removal company for a year and there was one particular customer who had it, would imagine the place crawling with bedbug-like creatures that weren't there.
Worked as a mental health case worker for a decade and the one client that I had with parasitosis could not be convinced that their house, clothes and themselves were not covered with bugs at all. Out of all of the people I’ve worked for, their condition was the most set in stone
I couldn’t stop washing my sheets because of the same thing. It only stopped after I took a magnifying glass and examined every square inch of my bed, and convinced my mind there was no bug
yep, I have had customers like this as well. In my state's pest control training program, they have a section on this that tells you to not be talked into treating for something that isn't there.
I remember Michael Shannon said in an interview that he always played his character Peter, like he actually was being followed by the government and the bugs were real. It definitely shows because his performance is spectacular!
This is one of my favourite William Friedkin movies. Not only does it have a great performance by Michael Shannon that goes against his stern angry guy typecast. But also it’s an interesting example of folie a due or madness for two. It’s starts off so innocently at first was just a paranoid comment about fire alarms and then escalates into mutilation and death.
Really!? Sorcerer is one of my favorite films by him and Bug would be down low with Ronin. On paper I should love Bug because it’s got all the things I love in a thriller including a dark and somewhat open ending. I loved the acting as well- a role Shannon would play much better in Take Shelter. It just lacked that certain something I can’t pin down.
nah, 1 says its the best state, 1 is indifferent to the effects of life, 1 desperately wants out, and 1 would be happy to leave but doesn't really care that much
This is definitely one of those movies I watched when I was way too young and repressed rather than grasp the context. I feel like this is a strikingly accurate depiction of Codependency/Paranoia/and addiction that hits extremely close to my own experience with addicted partners. The acting is spot on and the story overall does its intended goal.
I vividly remember this movie playing on french public tv at like 2-3 am. It was rated "discouraged for -16 " so of course as a 11 years old with sleeping parents i jumped on the occasion. Fuck that was a ride.
My friend was in an abusive relationship like Agnes was and the most difficult part of that is realizing you can tell someone to leave a situation where someone is hurting them and you can be right but you can't control their actions. You can only try to show that you value them and hope that's enough so that they leave. I really felt that scene where the friend was trying to get Agnes to leave.
Along with how you have to actively have a place for them to stay. You can tell them to leave but that ask rings hollow if they have nowhere else to go.
i vaguely remember this movie coming on the movie network and being reeled in by its premise and incredible acting. it felt like being emotionally buried alive, each layer of dirt and mud diffusing the light of the real world until you're ultimately trapped and unable to move, finding a twisted happiness in the love between the two characters
Oh yeah, a classic family film. Reminds me of when I sat down with my family to watch "Requiem for a Dream". The a$$ to a$$ scene really makes an impact when mom is sitting next to you.
@FiercelyGold for real. I watched that movie with my sister when I was like 8 😂😂😂 the lies she told to keep me from truly understanding what was happening
I love horror, but my anxiety disorder make certain moments impossible to deal with. The sheer anxious tension of waiting for the other shoe to drop. I had to watch "Parasite" at home and pause intermittently to catch my breath.
The twist of Peter’s delusions is genuinely one of my biggest fears. I work at a gas station where someone who seems so nice can suddenly tell you they’re a delusional conspiracist who believes terrible things.
This is so real, some people are visibly weird but some people start completely normal and then start talking about how they used to be rich and they're gonna be a famous artist one day and become rich again. Lol
@@willd.4808 I've experienced this one. Sold my old dryer for 50 bucks to a lady who was telling me about working in intelligence for the government and some shit about the water. She seemed genuinely unhinged...
Always happy to see this movie get recognition. To this day it remains one of the few movies I've ever seen people be literally unable to make it through on multiple occasions. It's a truly rough watch, in all the best ways. 😙👌
Sorry if I missed it in the video, but wanted to note that Bug and Killer Joe are both based on plays. I've haven't productions for either stage show but, for those who have seen the movie, seeing all of that live on stage sounds WILD!
What's upsetting is that this is something that someone could be dealing with right now. I myself know people that I love dearly who suffer from such delusions and whenever they have their psychotic breakdowns, I just feel nothing but sympathy for them. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like having to live in such an inescapable headspace :( My heart goes out to anyone who has to live with such horrifying mental disorders; just know there will always be someone out there willing to stick with you through thick and thin; you are LOVED
A bit old, but I'd be interested in your thoughts on pontypool. I'm a neurologist and the idea of a zombie plague spread by an aphasia-inducing meme was fascinating
Not only one of my favorite William Friedkin films but it’s adapting a fantastic play by one of my favorite playwrights. August: Osage County is another masterpiece IMO, Killer Joe didn’t translate as well to the screen but it’s pretty decent. I really want to see The Minutes adapted. I just love how small the scale of his plays are, they usually only use one set.
Even though it was.... censored in this video and detached from the source... The tooth pulling scene.... It made me shake and close my eyes... I always... Always hate scenes involving teetg for some reason and even the small snippets were just... Harrowing.... Nicely done
It's not so bad once you've seen someone do it in reality. My Father (May he rest in peace), who was a tougher man than I'll ever be, once extracted his own molar because the bureaucrats at the VA were dragging their feet approving dental surgery while he was in excruciating pain. Don't join the military if you want decent healthcare, kids. Once you leave active service they give even less a damn about you than they pretended to while you were in.
The one noisy cricket turning out to be a broken smoke detector with two characters slowly going insane was done in It's Always Sunny when Mac and Dennis move to the suburbs. I wonder if they watched this movie and were like "yeah this'll go will with an episode"
This is such a wild movie, wow. Criminal Minds actually made an episode that was heavily similar to this movie called "The Itch". There was a guy that had a very similar delusion that he had bugs under his skin and he was kidnapping people and basically torturing them until they saw the bugs under their skin too.
Honestly, Bug scared me more than The Exorcist. I saw this movie as a teenager and let me tell you, this movie messed with my mind. I had nightmares about it more than Regan's terrifying face that I had seen in screamer videos. I would have dreams about that tinfoil covered, bug zapper blue lighted room. The characters weren't there, just me trapped in there scared and desperate to escape. It's one of the few times a horror movie has gotten so deep under my skin (no pun intended, I assure you). I would start falling asleep to Finding Nemo on DVD to try and combat the nightmares.
LokiMartin-Same. The Exorcist is a great movie, but it never really scared me, whereas Bug disturbed me so much that I still haven't been able to bring myself to rewatch it over a decade after I saw it.
@@kirstyfairly4371 Omg I thought I was the only person who couldn't rewatch it! Yeah, it affected me just as much that I haven't revisited it. The sad thing is I have had so many horror dudebros say some awful things to me when I have mentioned this among my list of Horror Movies That Scare the Living Sh*t Out Of Me. I have been called a p*ssy, I have been called weak. I was even told "kys" just because I said this movie and the pharmacy scene in The Mist scared me. Which I don't understand. Everyone is afraid of something, so you would think horror fans would be the most understanding when it comes to that. But no, you have guys who think just because you watch horror, you shouldn't be afraid of nothing!
@@LokiMartin -I know exactly what you mean about the dudebro types. I've seen them talking down to other horror fans who said they found the baseball boy scene in Dr Sleep too hard to watch, telling them that shocking the audience is the whole point of a horror movie, & if they can't handle scenes like that then they shouldn't watch horror movies. It always annoys me when I see comments like that, cause even the most hardened horror fans will still have certain limits when it comes to what they can handle, & if a person is so desensitised that nothing disturbing (whether fictional or real) ever bothers them, then maybe they should be seriously concerned about that.
@@kirstyfairly4371 Oh man, I will never forget watching that scene with the baseball boy in Dr. Sleep and the guy next to me grabbed his girlfriend's hand and leaned against her. Shocking the audience may be the point of horror movies, but like you said, even the most hardened of horror fans have their limits. A lot of the time, those limits involve kids or pets. I remember having a panic attack during Smile because of the pet death. That's the only thing I hate, when horror movies needlessly kill the pet to show how evil the monster/killer/whatever is. I was pleasantly surprised in Thanksgiving, where the killer not only doesn't kill the victim's pet cat, he even feeds the kitty and gives it scritches. It was oddly cute, dare I say. I also remember being younger and going to see Stephen King's The Mist. I sat next to these young college guys who were fun to sit next to, the kind you want to in a horror movie. Their reactions were great, but I'll never forget the guy sitting next to me, big 6ft 11 built like a linebacker, huge guy. During the scene in the pharmacy with the spiders, he pulled his legs up and crouched down as low in his seat as he could go and he grabbed my hand and squeezed it. After the movie was over, on the way out, he said, "I'm sorry I squeezed your hand. Are you alright?" in the most gentle and sweetest voice. I told him it was fine, that both of us were scared of spiders and needed somebody to hang onto. One of my favorite interactions after a horror movie.
@@LokiMartin -Yeah, outside of extreme movies like Hostel, or any of the French extreme movies I usually am pretty good at handling disturbing scenes in horror movies. Like you i find it pretty difficult to watch when the pet dies in any movie, let alone a horror movie, though I can handle it easier if the death of the pet is offscreen. And yes that scene in Dr Sleep was one of the few horror movie moments that i don't think I could put myself through watching again (thank god I saw Dr Sleep at home & not in the cinema cause I could not have handled seeing that scene in a theatre with strangers around me, it was far too distressing). The one other horror movie moment that I could never sit through again was the scene in I Am Legend involving the dog (I still remember desperately trying to not start sobbing when I saw that in the cinema). Also loved Smile, watching that movie was the most scared I've been watching a horror film in the cinema since It Follows.
I worked on a production of the stage version of Bug and it's truly 100% more visceral on stage than screen. We chose to present it as a one act so there was no intermission. Just the audience trapped in the theater just as Agnes and Peter do in their own delusions.
Got to see this in theatre in the early 00s. Had NO idea what I was in for my gf at the time was a manager at a movie theater so I got to see a lot of movies from that time. This was something else
I never could understand how that woman could end up with someone like that, until I was in a relationship with a gas lighting narcissist with bipolar disorder that he was no longer getting treatment for.
Interestingly, it's pretty common for people close to someone with delusional parasitosis to start sharing in their delusion, so the movie gets that right. As a side note, I get the tactile hallucination of bugs crawling on or under my skin without the delusion. It took me a long time to figure out what was wrong because I wasn't even looking for a psychological explanation at first. I thought it was just a very odd skin condition. It can get insanely uncomfortable, but I'm glad that I've never experienced delusional parasitosis along with it. The downside is that sometimes I don't notice at first when a real bug is crawling on me because I'm so used to tuning out that sensation.
I have a gal who comes into my work sometimes with parasitosis. She is always covered in scratch marks and has big patches of skin missing. Its truly really sad shes a nice girl. Sometimes she seems aware that its a delusion other times she will show you pictures of stuff shes pulled out of her arms.
This has to be one of the most disturbing instances of shared psychosis I have ever seen, and if it hadn’t been from a couple of powerful performances, I think it would have come off kinda funny.
I’m surprised you haven’t covered this one yet. This is one hell of a chilling thriller with two excellent leads in Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon; their chemistry is disturbing yet compelling. I also like that Friedkin doesn’t show much and lets us picture such a creepy crawly scenario. Definitely not for those who have dealt with situations like Agnes or Peter and not for those who can’t stand bugs
I remember me and my girl watched The Exorcist and I looked up what else that director did and this came up and I saw Michael Shannon’s face and immediately we watched it. So damn good, I always explain this to people like “what happens when a batshit crazy person meets a drug addict” so I don’t give too much away lol. Glad you talked about this one
Ooooh, now you're talking! I had no idea what to make of this movie but some of the dialogue delivery is amazing - just these long breathless panicky diatribes that make you feel threatened just watching.
i am a bedbug survivor (lol) and even though there's nothing shown just the characters reacting had me scratching myself until i drew blood. i would not recommend if you had a similar experience. i'm happy someone finally explained it. although sadly i feel bugs on me now so i will go take a boiling shower and douse myself in DEET and aloe to trick the ptsd. (funny side story: i almost immolated myself when dealing with the infestation. don't fuck with that shit. i'd take ants or termites any day.)
The lengths the doctor go to to apprehend him only hints at how dangerous he is, he needed to get agnes out of there even if it meant lying about her son, I felt so bad for agnes.
the amount of excitement I felt when I realised what movie you were covering. I always felt like the only person who'd ever seen bug since nobody I personally know has. this was my first work of michael Shannon and is still one of my all time fave films. thank you so much for sharing it with your subs!! hope it gets more people to watch it! 🥳🥳🥳🥳
A family member of mine had an experience with meth-induced delusional parasitosis. She went to the hospital to get treated for worms under her skin, unaware that she was having a psychotic episode.
"Folie à deux (French for "madness of two"), also known as shared psychosis or shared delusional disorder (SDD), is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which symptoms of a delusional belief, are "transmitted" from one individual to another."
When Michael starts FREAKING out and screaming "they're everywhere! They're all over me!" While scratching furiously and seizing and flipping around on his back, i couldn't help but laugh my ass off. What a movie 😅😅
While I know this channel focuses on filmed media, I couldn't help but be reminded of how the game "Devotion" highlights how vulnerable people are to conspiracy and beliefs when they are desperate and struggling in life.
Dropped what I was doing to watch this because I love Michael Shannon. I had also just watched "Take Shelter" yesterday. If you've seen both, you'll know why I was tripped out by Peters delusions at first, as well as the ambiguous tone of the plot. Thanks for the spoiler alert Ryan, Im glad I didn't miss out on the blind viewing.
Surprised and delighted to see you giving this film some recognition. Catching it a few years ago I was blindsided that such a brilliant psychological horror film had just slipped past my radar. It stuck with me for days, and has done so every time I have revisited since I first saw it.
i have to say, the lighting in this video fits perfectly and is a really good fit for your channel. The harsh white light on your right and the slight orange edge lighting on your left works really well to drown out any distracting stuff in your background and almost gave me a Halloween H2O vibe almost. I can see the same lighting working very well in videos going forward.
I was fortunate enough to catch this movie on late night cable shenanigans many moons ago... And while I definitely caught on the paranoia angle on my first viewing, I absolutely forgot how batshit insane it got at the end.
I first saw Bug on the big screen 18 years ago and loved it. It was a weekend early showing, so there only a dozen or so in the audience. I will always remember an elderly couple leaving the screening while remarking, "That was the worst movie I have ever seen." It's not everyone's cup of tea, lol
i find this review very fascinating because when i first watched this movie i was genuinely disappointed with what i watched but from seeing this it makes me actually want to rewatch it. this form of body horror is super fascinating so i’m glad to see it in a different light
I encountered this movie while channel surfing one night. The plot caught me off guard completely, and I was hooked. Great movie, but it kinda made my skin crawl 😅
Watched this in theatres as a teen and hated it! Was so disappointed and felt cheated from a plot. Watched it again a year or so ago for Halloween and omg huge 180. Loved the build up of anxiety and stress and the acting is so good. Even knowing how it ended it was a great ride. Crazy how life changes perspective and how little I knew about how others may perceive/see the world.
Such an underrated gem! The electronic music producer(s) Tek-One has actually used some of the crazy monologues in a few of their songs. One appropriately named, “Bug.” The other named “Caput Mortuum”, the first song on their album, “Sleep Equals Myth.” Completely deranged samples but they work very well in what is some super intense engineering. 👏👏👏
Thanks for picking this one up, I mentioned it in a schizophrenic simulation video somewhere but I'm glad that someone was interested in it enough to give it the shinedown it properly deserved
I have severe health anxiety and although it's definitely not as bad as parasitosis this movie still resonates. I remember one time my mom asking me, resignedly "do you WANT to be sick?"
I was just thinking the other day about this fever dream ass movie I watched with my dad when I was little and we thought we had rented a spooky bug themed movie. We were uh...we were not correct and were so confused.
So happy to see you cover this. I love this movie. *Spoilers*: best part of the movie, imo, is the split second of sudden sane clarity from Agnes, immediately after the match is struck. Great performances from Judd and Shannon.
My mother showed me this movie years ago! She knows I'm huge into horror and she gave it a raving review. By the end of it, I was questioning everything for days after. Great movie and one you won't forget.
This channel is so good at bringing up movies I completely forgot about. I remember feeling positively towards this but maybe I should give it a rewatch before watching the video.
oh wow this is one of those films i watched back in the day that I was convinced was just a fever dreams lol. Forgot all about it- watched this and King of the Ants back to back smh. good stuff
A masterpiece. I’ve seen it many times. One of my faves ever. Really wish you had spoken on the films POST CREDITS SCENE tho. Really interesting tho for the film.
I've never heard of this but I love body horror and the premise sounds awesome, I'll have to come back to the video after I've seen it, thanks for another recommendation I've found a lot of great movies through this channel over the years
Many conspracy theories are dumb, but I don't think it's much of a stretch to think those who devoted their lives to obtaining power will do anything they can to hold onto it.
I watched this for the first time so long ago that the only thing I remembered was having a huge crush on Ashley Judd. But since then I became a big fan of Friedkin and rewatched it recently. What a crazy and distressing film. I think it's one of his best.
