An immersive meditation on the themes of grief and loss, Shudderbugs adopts the motifs of a whodunnit thriller to explore a daughter’s reaction to the unexpected and potentially suspicious death of her mother.
Thirtysomething Sam (Johanna Putnam) returns to her rural childhood home to take responsibility for her mother’s affairs. As an only child, and following the tragic drowning of her father in the farm’s lake two years earlier, she is left to deal with the estate alone. As memories flood in, colliding with Sam’s growing sense of unease, the isolation begins to trigger what might be paranoia. Photo albums, scrapbooks, answerphone messages and reminders set on smart devices, all reinforce the reality of her mother’s absence, and deny her any sense of solace. Apart from unsettling phone calls with officials, administrators, and distant friends, her only face-to-face contact is with her solitary, socially-awkward neighbour, and childhood friend Noah (Brennan Brooks, also director of photography), whose motives Sam begins to question. As her doubts about the cause of her mother’s death multiply, the vast and beautiful bucolic landscape becomes an oppressive, suffocating companion.
The strength of Shudderbugs comes from its meticulously crafted sense of the psychology of loneliness. The film’s powerful aesthetic is built through some impressive cinematography, rich sound design and potent visuals – in which bugs and insects feature prominently. As scriptwriter, director and producer as well as lead actor, Putnam has the weight of the film on her shoulders. She delivers a grounded and believable performance as a woman thrown off balance as her world is upended. Much of the film’s pacing could be described as languid, and Putnam’s desire to arrive at an ambiguous ending will frustrate some viewers. Yet Shudderbugs deserves attention for its inventive and emotionally perceptive approach to the craft of atmospheric indie filmmaking.
SHUDDERBUGS is available to rent/buy digitally in the UK from Prime Video and Apple TV+
