Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- austere
- eerie
- quiet
- quiet evening
- arthouse movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film austere and slight but engrossing and creepy, with its nonprofessional cast and still visual style giving the murder mystery unusual verisimilitude.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The murder investigation emerges from the interconnected lives of factory workers, caregivers, and struggling single parents in a small town.
The film emphasizes flat, still images of the doll factory, shovel factory, homes, and local businesses.
Detective Don Taylor interviews Jake, Kyle, and Martha after Rose is found strangled, with each relationship carrying competing implications.
Soderbergh uses nonprofessional actors and site-specific production to create verisimilitude in an oblique portrait of contemporary America.
Films like Bubble, and why
Red Rock West
stripped-down small-town crime mystery with an observational, unsettling atmosphere
The Pledge
quiet working-class murder mystery built from social suspicion and moral unease
The Straight Story
minimalist american crime drama using ordinary lives to generate creeping tension
Movie Details
- Director
- Steven Soderbergh
- Release Date
- 2006-01-27
- Runtime
- 73 min
- Rating
- 6.3 / 10 (131)
Cast
- Debbie Doebereiner
- Omar Cowan
- Dustin James Ashley
- Phyllis Workman
- Laurie L. Wee
- Daniel R. Christian
- Misty Wilkins
- Madison Wilkins
- K. Smith
- Decker Moody
Common questions
- What is Bubble about?
- A spare small-town murder mystery turns factory routines, fragile friendships, and economic isolation into creeping psychological unease.
- What is Bubble like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Bubble as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Bubble violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Bubble as moderate.
- What did critics think of Bubble?
- Critics broadly found the film austere and slight but engrossing and creepy, with its nonprofessional cast and still visual style giving the murder mystery unusual verisimilitude.
- Which films are like Bubble?
- Films with a similar feel include Red Rock West, The Pledge, and The Straight Story.
- How long is Bubble?
- Bubble runs 73 minutes.
