Bulk (2025) Movie Review: A Heady and Bizarre Inter-Dimensional Adventure that Doubles as an Amusing Genre Throwback

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Directed by Ben Wheatley, “Bulk” is a sci-fi adventure that premiered around the same time as “Normal,” becoming the director’s latest foray into the action-thriller space. “Normal” shows him bringing back the magic of “Free Fire” with dark comedic undertones that feel oddly relevant in today’s world. It’s a thematically ambitious film that works just as well as an action thriller, giving us a taste of his prowess in that genre. “Bulk” shows him doing something similar in the space of science fiction and film noir, evoking the charm of their old-school genre tropes through what feels like a blend of sincere narration and parody.

Wheatley, who also wrote the script, introduces these elements with an intoxicating ride through the minds of three characters belonging to a scientific investigation. He doesn’t waste any time explaining the details of that string theory experiment in the beginning. Instead, he puts us right into a stressful moment that introduces the protagonist to the other characters.

The film begins with Corey Harlan (Sam Riley), a journalist, getting pulled out of a car by Sessler (Noah Taylor), who kidnaps him to achieve his greater goal. He works alongside Aclima (Alexandra Maria Lara) on a secretive operation. At least that’s what we are led to believe. That’s how Corey comes into the picture. Aclima and Sessler consider him a missing part of their puzzle to meet their superior’s demands.

Everything happens so fast that Corey doesn’t get enough time to think or process all the complicated information they share with him. The editing echoes his disorientation by giving us whiplash through its relentless transitions between shots, unfolding for barely a few seconds. Add the confined nature of the room they enter and the barrage of information getting shared within a matter of a few minutes, and you get a visceral sense of Corey’s emotional state.

While shot primarily in black and white, the film occasionally shifts to color through frames with a cold, clinical color palette. At other times, it switches between crisp and Dogme 95-style hazy footage, adding to its intended dramatic suspense. It sustains this conspiratorial tone through writing that shows characters hiding, scheming, or running away from a perceived threat. As the person at the center of those crises, Corey learns details on a need-to-know basis, which deepens his urge to figure out what’s happening around him. Later, he also meets Aclima and Sessler from other dimensions, playing different parts than what he remembers them being like.

While analyzing the inter-dimensional mess that Corey finds himself in, the film features montages or stylistic choices that feel like an ode to the genre classics. Plenty of its scenes are lit beautifully to amplify the dramatic contrast, while occasionally using extreme wide-angle frames, evoking the feeling that classic film noir projects like “The Third Man” convey.

The resulting palpable tension builds a sincere drama, while some other scenes counter it with self-aware humor. In one scene, a character reveals how they have no perception of reality beyond the room they are in. In another scene, the script pokes fun at the way female characters are written in similar stories by men about male characters, where women are portrayed jarringly and unrealistically naive.

Besides writing, the film introduces humor through shots that feature miniature cars, planes, or cardboard backgrounds of hills or cities. It all plays a part in building a sense of artifice about Corey’s new life, putting us into his shoes to start questioning his purpose in this hyperreality. The script seems aimed at leaving us on a contemplative note, making us reflect on the state of our lives through characters struggling with their views about their fate. Those noble intentions pay off in a few scenes where characters come closer to understanding the nature of their existence. Some of those moments result in fruitful musings underlining their illusion of control or free will, but they remain part of a script that feels too convoluted for its own good.

The film’s insistence on being many things at once often hampers its potential to be a cerebral project. It comes across as incoherent rambling of a person jumping between different modes of narration, guided purely by impulse. That’s why the result is a messy but charming detour through genre quirks that feels like a love letter to different forms of cinema. It’s also an audacious film that swings between a sophisticated modern relationship drama, a sci-fi conspiracy, and a creature feature, like it’s perfectly casual. As if that’s not enough, it features an old sage who looks, speaks, and functions like how Yoda does in a mentorship for his Jedis.

That’s why, despite potential reservations about the film being incoherent or overzealous, it becomes a beautiful mess to spend the ninety minutes of your time with. It also doesn’t hurt that Lara, Riley, Taylor, and Mark Monero (playing the fourth character in that inter-dimensional space) are consistently compelling through the film’s tonal whiplash. Riley is effective in fleshing out Corey’s existential dilemma, but Lara commands the screen as enigmatic Aclima, whose utterly sincere performance guides you through the film’s introspective notes, making you genuinely care for Aclima and Corey through their anguish.