THE STORY – When an architect accepts a morally ambiguous project – building a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire – his wife begins to question their marriage after seventeen years together.
THE CAST – Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Stephen Graham, Paul Dano & Patrick Schwarzenegger
THE TEAM – Florian Zeller (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 126 Minutes
When Miguel (Javier Bardem) and Sofia (Penelope Cruz) first met and had dinner together, the story of her life was so moving that it brought him to tears. His reaction was so enchanting to her because, finally, here was a man who was not afraid of his emotions. However, it took a few weeks for him to reveal that his cat allergy was flaring up around her feline friend, and though that didn’t stop them from continuing their relationship, almost 18 years and counting, it’s clear that that would be the first of many misunderstandings and disappointments. Marital strife is only the beginning in Florian Zeller’s drama/thriller “Bunker,” which also tries to weave in plots regarding our worst fears and the impending doom in the world. For the most part, Zeller manages to make these storylines interesting on their own, but together they’re mismatched and try to do too much in the end. Not to mention, the climax of this film will definitely be divisive.
Miguel is an award-winning architect who lives in London with his wife, Sofia, a publisher, and two daughters, Lucia and Rosa. They have a beautiful home with all the modern furnishings and diffused lighting anyone could ever want, but they have a big problem next door. Their elusive neighbor Toby (Stephen Graham) has hired a contractor to knock out a hole in their concrete fence so that he can build a window for a studio apartment. It’s not only an eyesore to look at – cinematographer Ben Smithard captures it in dark hues – but the constant banging is driving Miguel crazy, all the more brought out by the intense pangs of Volker Bertelmann’s score (similar to his work for “Conclave”). It’s not up to code, nor did he ask his neighbors if they would be OK with it, and it leads to very tense meetings between Miguel and Toby. He immediately starts questioning Miguel and Sofia’s accents, and reflects on times when the neighborhood didn’t have fancy homes such as theirs and people looked out for each other. That only further puts Miguel on edge, and when the family cat goes missing shortly thereafter, it’s not hard to wonder who may be the cause.
At the same time, Sofia has been growing distant from Miguel, which comes to the forefront after she sees a painting of two lovers sleeping tightly together and it reminds her of who they once were. Being together for two decades means a lot can change, including people and their values. Their mismatched nature starts to clash when Miguel is offered a confidential and well-paid gig to make a luxury bunker for a billionaire (a fun Paul Dano reveal later in the film) that can be used for up to a year when the world, inevitably, goes upside down. While Sofia is disgusted by the prospect, spouting off well-known talking points about the rich only looking out for themselves, Miguel is somewhat interested, and the money is hard to turn down.
So much tension here leads to a very unsettling environment that becomes one of the film’s stronger aspects, both visually and narratively. The bulk of the action takes place indoors, particularly in the couple’s home, and though it’s a gorgeous space to live in, it eventually feels claustrophobic. Not to mention, the hole in the fence becomes a dark cloud hanging over this family, and each time the camera pans to it, it looks uglier and more sinister. Much like Zeller utilized visual tricks in his exquisite debut “The Father” to evoke confusion, he does so similarly here to play up fear. He frequently lingers on Graham’s glances toward the couple’s home or focuses on the window he’s built, but we can’t tell if he’s standing there or not. All of that has an impact on Miguel, who upgrades to the most ridiculous home security package available with fog cameras when he realizes that potential threats are everywhere. The vibe around the bunker, too, is very off, especially when Miguel finally talks to the billionaire. Dano looks so unfazed talking about installing voice-recognition oxygen in the shelter so that, if there ever was an uprising in there, he would always remain on top. What makes it all worse is that there probably is that technology out there and the world’s elite have it installed as an app on their phones. But what’s most surprising is that, despite all the bad vibes here, Zeller manages to ease the tension with really humorous moments that call back to earlier scenes (Miguel trying to stealthily accept a package) and society at large (Miguel and Sofia making fun of pompous art).
Sofia’s journey, however, is less effectively explored in Zeller’s screenplay. There’s a lot to unpack with this character, including all that she had to give up in Madrid to move to London, how she’s unable to advance in her literary career because she’s a foreigner, and how she relates to the unsatisfied female character in her client Jeremy’s (Patrick Schwarzenegger, who isn’t given much to do here) new book. But by the end of the film, you’re still not too sure what is going on with her and why she’s feeling so bad. Whenever she’s given the chance to open up or confront Miguel about her distant attitude as of late, all she can ever say is “I don’t know.” It’s obviously not just one thing, but the dialogue keeps coming back to the bunker and her issues with him doing it, even though he has not accepted any offer. Miguel also keeps pushing this idea that she’s cheating on him with the author, which only shows that he is not really listening to her. Why not actually discuss what their relationship was like before or how life changed for them with the move to London, rather than focusing on issues that don’t really move the needle here?
However, one thing that can be said is that both Cruz and Bardem are electrifying together on screen, especially when they have their inevitable big fight. Questions about fidelity turn into anger which then lead to harsh, sobering truths about each other, and you simply can’t look away from them as they go through all the emotions. It moves and sounds so natural that it gives you the sense that you might actually be peering into a tense moment in this real-life couple’s marriage. At other moments, like when Sofia reflects on the painting she saw, there’s so much tender sadness expressed in her eyes.
As “Bunker” heads into its final act, this will be the true test for viewers. All of the ambiguity and fear planted early on is realized in an intense way that is chilling, but also an eyeroll. It makes you question what the point of everything was prior and also what Zeller is trying to say here about class and security. Also, brace yourself for a very cheesy line Miguel has in a letter. How is this the same filmmaker who delivered such profound, empathetic work with “The Father”? The final image on screen may also be too on the nose, but it works much better than what precedes it. Ultimately, though “Bunker” starts off promising with a tense atmosphere and clever crafts, it leads to a confusing and messy end result. But at least you can always count on Bardem and Cruz to deliver great performances.
