Tonight I watched a movie on Tubi titled “Shudderbugs”. There are only two characters in the entire movie. And a cat. A young woman goes back to her childhood home after her mother dies. A mother whose last phone calls she neglected, neglected to answer and neglected to return. When we feel guilty, we always want to find someone or something else to blame. And that is what this movie is about.
It’s beautifully executed. The deceased mom was a poet and had planned a birthday party for the daughter who declined to answer her phone calls, a birthday party complete with poems and a scavenger hunt. Her voice mail messages, when the daughter finally played them, were always hopeful, hopeful the daughter would show up.
The word “shudderbugs” is a word the mom used to describe feelings she got when she knew things she had no way of knowing. And the daughter comes to learn the meaning of the word, also. Her blameful attention turns to the neighbor who found her mother’s body. She cannot find a ring she says her mom always wore, and her mom’s dog has disappeared. All this fits right into her theory of blame.I found this movie captivating, emotionally so at times, and, also, a learning experience.
