With The Bunker, playwright-turned-filmmaker Florian Zeller crafts a hyper-relevant narrative, enlisting real-life couple Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz to explore what happens when obscene wealth, paranoia, and marital discord collide. Bardem plays Miguel, a once-idealistic architect living in London with his wife of 17 years, Sofía (Cruz), who works in publishing, and their two young daughters. Their comfortable existence hits an impasse when a Silicon Valley billionaire (Paul Dano) approaches Miguel with an unusual commission: to design a private bunker to protect him from whatever horrors the future might have in store for the uber wealthy.
For Miguel, it’s a job that puts his principles to the test; for his marriage, it could be the beginning of the end. I caught The Bunker at the 35th Philadelphia Film Festival.
Zeller’s theatrical roots are evident throughout The Bunker, which often feels like a stage play brought to life through cinema. Its engrossing, thought-provoking monologues are given added weight by Ben Smithard’s lush cinematography, lending a visual richness to what is, at its core, an intimate battle of ideologies. While the job could bring a financial windfall for the family, Sofía believes it’s a Faustian bargain for her husband’s creative spirit and the final step in turning their family into something she no longer recognizes.
Bardem and Cruz are brilliant together, and their established, effortless chemistry gives enormous weight to the conflict at the heart of the film. Zeller also manages to put both characters front and center, allowing us to understand their respective perspectives, which is a refreshing rarity. While the film poses this question, it also offers its own conclusion as the theme comes into focus for Miguel through a subplot that becomes a reflection of the film’s view on humanity, leaving the viewer with an example of both the best and worst of what people are capable of.
