# Bulk (film)
**Bulk** is a 2025 British science fiction film directed and written by [Ben Wheatley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-wheatley), in which an investigative journalist is drawn into a mysterious house whose doors open onto parallel universes after a scientist's string theory experiment goes wrong and his "brane" (a membrane-like dimension in string theory) explodes.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bulk/details/) Made on a low budget through Wheatley's Rook Films with backing from Film4, it stars [Sam Riley](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-riley), Alexandra Maria Lara, Noah Taylor, and Mark Monero, with [Bill Nighy](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-nighy) providing a voice role.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bulk) • [3](https://directorsnotes.com/2026/01/11/ben-wheatley-bulk/) The film premiered as the opening night of the Midnight Madness section at the 2025 Edinburgh International Film Festival and was released through a tour of independent cinemas, cinema clubs, and community venues across the UK and Ireland.[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/confidential-record--bulk) • [5](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/ben-wheatley-on-bulk)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Ben Wheatley; produced by Rook Films and Film4, producers Ollie Madden and David Kimbangi[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bulk) • [3](https://directorsnotes.com/2026/01/11/ben-wheatley-bulk/) |
| Cast | Sam Riley (Corey Harlan), Alexandra Maria Lara (Aclima Benton), Noah Taylor (Karl Sessler), Mark Monero (Anton Chambers), Bill Nighy (The Voice)[6](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/bulk) |
| Plot premise | A scientist's string theory experiment goes wrong when his brane explodes; Corey Harlan must find the brane's core and its creator in a house where doors lead to other worlds[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bulk/details/) |
| Runtime / certificate | About 90 minutes (BBFC 90m 14s); classified 15 for strong language[7](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/bulk-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmzotcw) |
| Premiere | World premiere, opening night of Midnight Madness, Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/confidential-record--bulk) |
| Release | UK and Ireland touring release via Anti-Worlds Releasing Ltd, including a 15-day, 20-stop Q&A circuit[5](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/ben-wheatley-on-bulk) • [7](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/bulk-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmzotcw) |
| Critical reception | 77% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 13 reviews; 5.5/10 on JustWatch[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bulk) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/bulk) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and structure
The story begins when an overzealous scientist pushes his string theory experiments too far and his brane, a term from higher-dimensional physics that the film plays for puns against "brain", explodes.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/bulk) Corey Harlan (Sam Riley), an investigative journalist, is drugged, kidnapped, and taken to a suburban house in Sussex, the childhood home of a reclusive multibillionaire (Mark Monero) who has invented a "Brain Collider", a consciousness-investigating device the size of a front room.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/14/bulk-review-ben-wheatley) Corey is poisoned, and the elusive Anton Chambers is said to hold the cure.[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bulk-ben-wheatley-creates-thrilling-experimental-film-about-failed-experiment)
The house is described within the film as "a set of coordinates inside a multi-dimensional construct" and a "narrative-based learning experience". Every door leads to a parallel universe and a different genre: war, post-apocalyptic dystopia, chase-based action, B-movie science fiction, enlightenment quest, and romance. The only constants are Corey, Karl, Aclima, and Anton, but even their names, characters, and interrelationships shift from room to room; Karl is elsewhere the [Obi-Wan Kenobi](https://www.edgepedia.org/obi-wan-kenobi)-like Carmel Seffer, and Anton is variously billionaire, journalist, mad scientist, and Wizard of Oz.[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bulk-ben-wheatley-creates-thrilling-experimental-film-about-failed-experiment) Corey reconstructs events like a gumshoe in a film noir, an impression reinforced by the nocturnal setting, his amnesia, trench coat, wisecracks, monochrome presentation, and the poison already in his system, in the manner of Rudolph Maté's *D.O.A.* (1950).[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bulk-ben-wheatley-creates-thrilling-experimental-film-about-failed-experiment)
## Production
Wheatley made *Bulk* during a four-month gap in his filming schedules, drawing on his recent work in comics and graphic novels and on the science fiction he loves, citing the Quatermass series, [Eraserhead](https://www.edgepedia.org/eraserhead), Jean-Luc Godard's *[Alphaville](https://www.edgepedia.org/alphaville-film)* (1965), *Blade Runner*, and 1970s *Doctor Who* as influences.[5](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/ben-wheatley-on-bulk) It was shot in Brighton.[3](https://directorsnotes.com/2026/01/11/ben-wheatley-bulk/) The film was produced through his Rook Films banner with backing from Film4, marking a return to micro-budget filmmaking after the $129 million studio sequel *[Meg 2: The Trench](https://www.edgepedia.org/meg-2-the-trench)* (2023).[3](https://directorsnotes.com/2026/01/11/ben-wheatley-bulk/)
**DIY aesthetics.** The film's construction is deliberately visible: image quality lurches between VHS, phones, and high-end cameras; model-work seams and strings remain visible; and dialogue was post-synced, recorded in post-production in the manner Wheatley associates with [French New Wave](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-new-wave) films and [Studio Ghibli](https://www.edgepedia.org/studio-ghibli) animations.[3](https://directorsnotes.com/2026/01/11/ben-wheatley-bulk/) • [5](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/ben-wheatley-on-bulk) It was shot mostly in inky monochrome by Nick Gillespie, Wheatley's cinematographer on *In the Earth*, moving from high-contrast noir styling to artificial back projection to Harryhausen-style model-making, over a score heavy on videogame-style synths.[10](https://nz.news.yahoo.com/bulk-review-ben-wheatley-goes-201030143.html) The closing credits carry a mountain of pop culture references listed in Wheatley's own handwriting in block capitals, along with instructions on how to recreate the film's DIY, largely in-camera effects.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/14/bulk-review-ben-wheatley) • [9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bulk-ben-wheatley-creates-thrilling-experimental-film-about-failed-experiment) Wheatley cameos as himself at the film's close, providing making-of tips.[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bulk-ben-wheatley-creates-thrilling-experimental-film-about-failed-experiment)
## Release
Rather than a standard release, *Bulk* went out on a tour of independent venues across the UK and Ireland, from pub screenings and cinema clubs to community centers, ranging from the 30-seat London cinema The Nickel to the BFI IMAX.[3](https://directorsnotes.com/2026/01/11/ben-wheatley-bulk/) Wheatley framed this as a response to a resurgence of cinema clubs in the UK.[3](https://directorsnotes.com/2026/01/11/ben-wheatley-bulk/) The theatrical version was classified 15 by the BBFC on 25 November 2025, with the distributor Anti-Worlds Releasing Ltd; a home entertainment version was classified on 2 December 2025.[7](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/bulk-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmzotcw) A two-disc Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD edition from Anti-Worlds was scheduled for 16 March 2026.[11](https://www.brownsbfs.co.uk/Product/Bulk/5065011443043)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film held a 77% Tomatometer from 13 reviews.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bulk) Critics were divided on its deliberate incoherence. Wendy Ide of *The Observer* found that it did not all make sense but praised its playfulness and teasing meta humor; Terry Staunton of *Radio Times* called it a playful exercise in bafflement and absurdity that risks infuriating as many viewers as it entertains; Kevin Maher of *The Times* gave it 2/5, calling it sloppy, repetitive, and dull.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bulk) Peter Bradshaw of *The Guardian* called it massively self-indulgent, often funny, and rescued from its longueurs by the real-life married couple [Alexandra Maria Lara](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandra-maria-lara) and Sam Riley.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/14/bulk-review-ben-wheatley) Guy Lodge, writing after the Edinburgh premiere, described it as the most stubbornly anti-commercial film of Wheatley's career and predicted cult status for its hybrid of conspiracy thriller, time-bending science fiction, and goofy genre parody.[10](https://nz.news.yahoo.com/bulk-review-ben-wheatley-goes-201030143.html)
The film received festival nominations including the Official Fantàstic Competition for Best Motion Picture at the 2025 Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival and Méliès d'Argent nominations at Fantaspoa 2026 and the Imagine Film Festival in the Netherlands.[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36873832/awards/)
## Place in Wheatley's career
*Sight and Sound* placed *Bulk* in a lineage of films that build whole worlds from a single domestic location, alongside Paul King's *Bunny and the Bull* (2009), [Bill Watterson](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-watterson)'s *Dave Made A Maze* (2017), and Wes Terray's *Precarious* (2020), and described it as an experimental film about, precisely, a failed experiment, in which the cheap artifice of the sets and model-kit props is essential to the broken cosmos it depicts.[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bulk-ben-wheatley-creates-thrilling-experimental-film-about-failed-experiment) Reviewers also compared it to Christopher Smith's looping *[Triangle](https://www.edgepedia.org/triangle-2009-british-film)* (2009) and Graham Hughes' *Hostile Dimensions* (2023).[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bulk-ben-wheatley-creates-thrilling-experimental-film-about-failed-experiment) Wheatley himself described it as "a kind of neo-noir science fiction movie", like an adaptation of a comic that was never written, and as a palate cleanser before his next film, the [Bob Odenkirk](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-odenkirk) thriller *Normal*.[13](https://dangerousminds.net/movies/ben-wheatley-new-film-bulk-interview/) • [10](https://nz.news.yahoo.com/bulk-review-ben-wheatley-goes-201030143.html)
## References
1. [Bulk details, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bulk/details/)
2. [Bulk, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bulk)
3. [Ben Wheatley Builds a Cardboard Multiverse in His Gloriously Unpolished Lo-Fi British Sci-Fi Thriller 'Bulk', Directors Notes](https://directorsnotes.com/2026/01/11/ben-wheatley-bulk/)
4. [British Council UK Films Database: Bulk](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/confidential-record--bulk)
5. [Ben Wheatley on micro-budget sci-fi BULK, The Skinny](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/ben-wheatley-on-bulk)
6. [Bulk - where to watch streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/bulk)
7. [Bulk, BBFC](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/bulk-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmzotcw)
8. [Bulk review – Ben Wheatley's quirky sci-fi brings small-budget charm to big questions, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/14/bulk-review-ben-wheatley)
9. [Bulk: Ben Wheatley creates a thrilling experimental film about a failed experiment, Sight and Sound, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bulk-ben-wheatley-creates-thrilling-experimental-film-about-failed-experiment)
10. ['Bulk' Review: Ben Wheatley Goes Mischievously Back to Basics, Variety via Yahoo](https://nz.news.yahoo.com/bulk-review-ben-wheatley-goes-201030143.html)
11. [Bulk Blu-ray product listing, Browns Books](https://www.brownsbfs.co.uk/Product/Bulk/5065011443043)
12. [Bulk (2025) - Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36873832/awards/)
13. [An exclusive interview with Ben Wheatley on his new film 'Bulk', Dangerous Minds](https://dangerousminds.net/movies/ben-wheatley-new-film-bulk-interview/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 2020s › Science fiction films of the 2020s › Titles symbols to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license