Bug

Aroview: Claustrophobic, knife's-edge drama in which a victim of spousal abuse (Judd) develops an obsessive, paranoid relationship with an enigmatic drifter (Shannon) within the confines of her isolated, run-down motel room.

Adapted from the hit stageplay by Tracy Letts by horror veteran William Friedkin, Ashley Judd de-glams successfully (recalling Charlize Theron in MONSTER) but it's the unsettling presence of Michael Shannon who gives the proceedings the necessary 'creeps'. After a restrained, naturalistic set-up, the unhinged closing act doesn't work as well as it might have on the stage, but it doesn't spoil the conceptual originality and intrigue.

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