In French sci-fi comedy BIGBUG (2022), a group of suburbanites are locked in their house for their own protection by their household robots while the Yonyx, the latest generation of AI androids, has become self aware and is staging a revolt outside. It’s garish, silly, absurd, and taken for what it offers on its face, it’s fun.
It’s 2045, and the Yonyx, a new generation of creepy androids who have become self-aware and appear to enjoy sadism against humans, are taking over. In a suburban home, the domestic robots lock a group of people inside to protect them. While the group squabbles among themselves and scheme to get out, the domestic robots conspire to get the humans to trust them so they can go on protecting them.
The film has been largely panned by critics and audiences. Critics saw it as tired satire. I didn’t see it that way at all, personally; I didn’t go into it expecting there to be a serious point. I looked at it as a typical French absurdist comedy, and the characters, from the humans to the androids, are likeable and interact within the the genre’s over-the-top conventions. French comedy normally isn’t my thing, but the solid characters, rapid pace, beautiful and garish design, and overall weirdness kept me engaged.
In the end, I didn’t find it as affecting as other absurdist comedies like BRAZIL, but I liked it and found it a worthwhile diversion.
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