'Bunker' - Review Thread
When an architect accepts a morally ambiguous project — building a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire — his wife begins to question their marriage after 17 years together.
Director: Florian Zeller
Cast: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Paul Dano, Stephen Graham
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A (updating)
Metacritic: N/A (updating)
Some Reviews:
IndieWire - David Ehrlich - 'C'
Zeller frames this film as a love story, and is eager — if maybe not quite eager enough — to mine a meta-textual thrill from the casting of such a famous real-life couple to play house for him. In a sense, we are watching Bardem and Cruz go about their day-to-day lives inside a massive glass box, and the challenge “Bunker” presents to them is to not shirk away from each other and themselves as a consequence of being so visible. It’s a challenge that Bardem in particular has confronted head-on with his inspiring commitment to anti-genocide advocacy, and, to the extent that it matters, this movie benefits from using actors who are so unafraid to own the courage of their convictions.
Both are superb on their own terms: Bardem, both gruff and smooth, finds sharp, subtle comic layers in Miguel’s steady loss of alpha control, while an intensely poised Cruz, often seemingly seconds from either a single tear or a primal scream, reaches the desolate melodramatic depths of feeling that she usually reserves for Pedro Almodóvar. (Is it a coincidence that she does her most ferocious emoting here against a wall of kitchen units in Almodóvar’s practically patented pillarbox red?) But it’s together — or apart while together — that they’re most magnetic. Finding and silently playing the subtext that Zeller doesn’t write, they threaten the security of this immaculate, imperilled household from the inside.
The Playlist - Marshall Shaffer - 'C-'
Leave it to Paul Dano to provide the movie’s lone dose of reality—and from a single-scene turn delivered entirely via Zoom call, no less. With simple but chilling rationality, his Andrew is a perfect specimen of the tech overlords Zeller wants to direct so much animus toward before sharing the blame. Yet Dano provides something more than an archetypal mouthpiece delivering ideology and information. The pixelated performance carries a sense of urgency. He treats the premise of “Bunker” as something more than a perverse thought exercise. Hopefully the world follows his, not Zeller’s, example as wealth continues to concentrate in the hands of paranoid apocalypse preppers.
The Guardian - Peter Bradshaw - 2 / 5
Bunker has nothing that interesting or original to say about its metaphorically showcased theme of alienation and inequality; the central relationship is left unexplored in favour of so-so home-invasion suspense styling – although one extended marital-argument scene showed what might have been achieved if their relationship was the film’s point – and the violent finale ending is outrageously glib, silly and unconvincing. >!An off-camera paramedic or doctor actually has to be heard explaining in a brief sentence afterwards what is supposed to have happened!<. Very lame.
Next Best Picture - Ema Sasic - 5 / 10
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. THE GOOD - Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz deliver as always. Florian Zeller creates an unsettling environment, narratively and visually. THE BAD - The climax will be divisive and leads to a messy end result. Not enough time devoted to Sofia's character. THE OSCAR PROSPECTS - None
AwardsWatch - Roberto Ruggio - 'C-'
The true shame about Bunker is that it seemed to be going in an interesting direction, until Zeller decided to make a full-blown drama out of it that completely derailed it.
‘Bunker’ Is a Crushing Disappointment. It’s always a pleasure to watch Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz act opposite one another...Even when it’s a cliché-riddled bit of tedium like Florian Zeller’s Bunker, a shallow study of class posing as a jagged domestic drama. Full of pained longueurs, seemingly provocative statements, and loud, often unexplained noises on the soundtrack, Bunker (premiering this week at the Venice Film Festival) has all the trappings of arty gravitas but none of the insight, artistry, or charm.
If anything, the film’s greatest fault lies in indecision, in its less-than-successful toggling between two modes it can never quite mesh. Going more satirical or more theatrical might actually bring greater balance, allowing Zeller to more fully explore the career questions lurking beneath his story. Can you stay true to yourself when the wider world comes knocking? And can you create truly great work on someone else’s terms? The questions are valid; you just wish “Bunker” had given them a more open home.
Which isn’t to say there aren’t many things to enjoy in Bunker. If you like this kind of putting two and two together in a story, Zeller’s playwright tendencies will surely be satisfying. Bardem and Cruz give fine performances, as does Dano in his short, one-scene impression of a tech bro. The youngest daughter of Miguel and Sofía is hilarious, and their Russian Blue cat (aptly named Blue) is gorgeous – this queen also was more than ready for her close-up early in the film. Bunker is laced with funny moments throughout, more than one would expect in a film that is about marriage problems and social inequality. Zeller’s direction is strong, with some powerful compositional work, especially against the Almodóvarian red cabinet wall in the kitchen; the way he uses negative space to underline Sofía’s feeling of isolation is particularly striking. Bunker is mostly let down by its screenplay, its obviousness robbing the film of any subtlety and clearly showing Zeller’s schematic writing and his inability to show-not-tell. What remains is a gorgeous-looking film (the house alone is worth the price of admission) that works best when it manages to hide its machinations.
Posted Sep 8, 2026, 5:03 PM UTC