‘Bunker’ Is a Paranoid Thriller, Marriage Drama, and Tech-Bro Apocalypse Movie All at Once [Venice]

What exactly is “Bunker”? Florian Zeller’s peculiar attempt at a paranoid thriller, marital drama, class satire, tech-bro apocalypse movie, and architectural TED Talk all at once. It’s really hard to pinpoint what this movie actually wants to be, which — you know — might be a problem.

One minute it’s a tense psychological drama about a marriage falling apart, the next it’s worrying about a hole in a garden wall, and then suddenly we’re contemplating the existential anxieties of billionaires who apparently have enough money to build themselves an underground bunker.

UPDATE: Reviews are unsurprisingly mediocre. Next Best Picture (5/10), The Guardian (2/5), IndieWire (C), IONCINEMA (2.5/5), The Playlist (C-)

Javier Bardem stars as Miguel, a world-famous architect whose glass mansion in a London neighborhood has nobody in his family talking to each other. Increasingly detached from his wife Sofia (Penélope Cruz), Miguel becomes consumed by a feud with his working-class neighbor (Stephen Graham) before being hired by a paranoid tech billionaire (Paul Dano) to design an enormous doomsday bunker. Sofia hates the idea, both because it would take Miguel away for months and because the bunker’s “trust no one, prepare for the apocalypse” thesis gives her the heebie jeebies.

And this is where “Bunker” gets very, very strange. There’s the hole in the garden wall, the missing cat, the alarm system that deploys fog bombs, and various other increasingly obvious signs that Miguel’s paranoia is getting out of hand.

Sofia gets a subplot involving a flirtatious young author, played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, but it feels largely disposable. Bardem, as usual, gives the role considerably more life than it deserves. Dano supplies the creepiness. And Zeller supplies enough sleek visuals and ominous piano music to convince us, for stretches, that something profound is happening.

“Bunker” is a movie stuck in an existential crisis of its own. Is it about marriage? Wealth? Gentrification? Paranoia? The apocalypse? Masculinity? The psychology of architecture? The architecture of psychology? Yes. Apparently all of the above.

Zeller’s feature debut, “The Father,” was an acclaimed and Oscar-winning film. Many believe he struck out with his sophomore effort, 2022’s critically maligned “The Son,” starring Hugh Jackman and Vanessa Kirby (29% on RT). Zeller has now delivered another miss.