SPIDERHEAD

Spiderhead, the new film Jospeh Kosinsky film (Top Gun: Maverick), was released on to Netflix last week, with virtually no fanfare. Which is never a great sign. It suggests that, despite the big names involved, and the large sums of money spent (reportedly $100,000,000 - though where half of that went is anyones guess), the streaming giant had lost faith in it.

Based on a short story by American writer George Saunders, it is a sci-fi thriller, set almost exclusively - with the exception of the occasional flashback - in an experimental prison, in which Chris Hemsworth’s Steve is testing a new drug. One that can affect the emotions of those subjected to it.

The prisoners (or, to be more accurate, the guinea pigs) appear to have things pretty well. At least as far as prisons go. They get to move around the facility as they please, they have games and TV’s, and are on first name terms with the guards.

I’m sure it doesn’t take a genius to work out where this is going.

And that is part of the problem. Spiderhead is actually an enjoyable enough time, but anyone who has seen this kind of film before will be able to see exactly where it is going from the start. The characters themselves are thinly drawn, as if the audience are expected to fill in the gaps based on movies they’ve seen in the past, but then does little to subvert these expectations.

Hemsworth is almost charismatic enough to makeup for the 2D writing of Steve. He has the typeof menacing charm which is fun to watch, but which also sets out the characters stalls from the off. As with the overarching plot, there are no surprises here. Everything you expect to happen with Steve, happens with him. The isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is fun to watch, but a little more ambiguity may have made for a more gripping narrative.

The best performance in Spiderhead comes from Miles Teller. Teller is an actor I have struggled with in the past. He is undoubtedly talented - Whiplash and Only the Brave showed this - but he has also had a habit of starring in some quite nasty films, such as 21 & Over (A film which tried so hard to be Superbad but without any of the talent behind the camera). Here though, he manages to portray prisoner Jeff with compassion. It is a subtle performance, in a film which typically eschews subtlety, and this contrast really works. Emotion is bubbling away under the surface, and on the odd occasion it boils over Teller’s gravitas demands to be looked at.

Jurnee Smollett also appears, as Jeff’s love interest Lizzy. Unfortunately she really isn’t given enough to do to, to have any agency outside of this. Her character is a device. Used to get Jeff from one place to another. Only ever advancing other peoples stories, rather than actually having an interesting history of her own.

Spiderhead isn’t a bad film. It has a strong premise, but fails to realise its potential, opening with quite a harrowing scene, something akin to torture, but then withdraws into itself. Never being as inventive, or as fearless, as it should be.

It is a film which feels like it would have been better as an indie. Away from the shackles of a corporation who, once so daring, are becoming increasingly by the numbers, where it could embrace its darker themes.

Alas, what we’re left with is a decent thriller, but which should, with a little more Darkenfloxx and little less Obediex, have been so much better.