NIKKI says:Probably one of the weirdest films I've ever seen, and that's why I liked it. It challenged everything in me. It was crazy, horrible, and dirty. Nothing was fully explained. It was dream-like. Ashley Judd was in it. Everything existed here to turn me off, and yet, I found myself glued.
I learned watching the making-of on the DVD that this is a movie about paranoia. I figured that, but I was looking for something more. I felt through much of the film that I was missing some grand point. Turns out I wasn't -- Friedkin talks about it as a paranoia piece, while the actors talk about it's love story elements. Michael Shannon says he wants everyone to walk away from it loving each other a little bit more.
To find the love story here is dig through a lot of grit, blood, and screaming. But he's right -- it's there. At the core of it, Ashley Judd's character needs something to believe in after the disappearance of her child. She blames herself, and in walks Michael Shannon, this stranger who thinks there are bugs in his brain and that's he's being controlled my the military. She think she's nuts, but his belief is so fierce that she starts to believe it, too. Eventually, his weirdness becomes hers and she uses his theories to explain her situation. She can deal with her loss. But, more importantly, she believes Michael Shannon. He is insane, but she believes him. That's the love part. Sure, she's kind of insane, too, but watching as they decide to take vengeance on their controllers is so fucked up it's actually kind of beautiful.
Bizarre, challenging, and fascinating.
3.5/5
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