Bigbug Parent Guide
Zany, quirky, and an overall chaotic mess, this film mixes juvenile humor with frequent sexual references and overblown satire.
Parent Movie Review
Household robotic assistants seem like a good idea, and one which humanity has completely embraced in the far-off year 2050. High-tech Yonyx androids even have a presence in politics. Even simpler mechanical assistants are widespread and useful - until they malfunction.
Alice (Elsa Zylberstein) is entertaining a gentleman caller, Max (Stephane de Groodt) when her ex-husband Victor (Youssef Hajdi) and his new girlfriend Jennifer (Claire Chust) arrive unannounced, followed shortly by her neighbor, Francoise (Isabelle Nanty). And as the house fills up, Alice’s household assistant, Monique (Claude Perron), an older model robot, starts acting up, informing the occupants that the doors are now locked due to a developing but unspecified state of emergency outside. Absent any visible disaster, the inhabitants assume a technical fault, and set to plotting an escape…but as bad as things seem inside the home, things outside could be even stranger.
I’m really not sure how to describe this movie. Zany sci-fi Cirque du Soleil aesthetic meets I, Robot? Quirky French sitcom crossed with Terminator? Bigbug isn’t quite either of those, but it’s not really anything else, either. Mostly, it’s just a bit of a mess, crossing juvenile humor and style with frequent sexual references and some overblown satire about modern technology. Maybe it’s just too French for my uncultured little Anglo brain.
Parents will likely care less about the tonal chaos than they will about all the sex, because every single character’s plotline involves sex. Max is trying to sleep with Nina, Victor and Jennifer keep going at it, Nina’s daughter and Max’s son are getting busy, and Francoise has been having it on with a slightly damaged sport android called Greg (Alban Lenoir). There’s also a spot of teen drinking and some occasional profanity, just to top it all off.
Thankfully, this is a Netflix release, so if you’re curious about just how strange this is, you can check it out at no additional cost. If you really feel like submerging your brain in this strange, liminal version of some French Tomorrowland, don’t let me stop you – but don’t say I didn’t warn you. This is a weird one, even by my standards.
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Starring Elsa Zylberstein, Isabelle Nanty, Stéphane De Groodt. Running time: 111 minutes. Theatrical release February 11, 2022. Updated May 31, 2022
Bigbug
Rating & Content Info
Why is Bigbug rated TV-MA? Bigbug is rated TV-MA by the MPAA for sex, nudity.
Violence: Two robots are “killed” after being shot in the face with a laser. Several others are destroyed by small drones. A woman is slapped.
Sexual Content: There are several instances of sexual dialogue. There are a number of sex scenes, including one involving teenagers, and one with female toplessness. A copy of the Kama Sutra is seen. Several naked people huddle in a cage. A man is seen naked from behind on a treadmill. A man slaps a scantily clad woman’s backside with a whip.
Profanity: There is one sexual expletive, five scatological terms, and infrequent use of mild curses and terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Teen characters are seen drinking.
Page last updated May 31, 2022
Bigbug Parents' Guide
Do you think that sentient androids would be a good thing? What would you like androids to do? Is it possible to control something that can think for itself? Do you think androids would be entitled to rights of their own?
Home Video
Related home video titles:
Androids are designed to be romantic companions in I’m Your Man. In Robot and Frank, an aging dementia patient teaches his robot home health care aide how to commit jewel thefts. Androids revolt and send humanity on the run in Mother/Android.