The Joseph Kosinski directorial is adapted from George Saunders disturbing short story
Netflix‘s Spiderhead is out, and the movie was an enjoyable watch. The movie stars Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller in the lead roles, and both actors truly shine. It is directed by Joseph Kosinski, whose directorial Top Gun: Maverick is still running successfully worldwide.
The movie is adapted from George Saunders’ short story, Escape From Spiderhead. Let’s read in detail.
Spiderhead Story (Spoilers Ahead)
The strange, bizarre, and fun film centers around an experiment that is conducted on prisoners who enlist in a mysterious program. They become test subjects for experimental drugs, and won’t have to languish in prison. While it may seem as a better choice at the start, it is far from it.
Jeff (Teller) is one such prisoner who gets taken to the Spiderhead research facility. The experiment’s overseer, Steve Abnesti (Hemsworth) explains the various drugs he will be taking in, and the effects it can cause. This ranges from drugs that make everything look beautiful, or ones that make him laugh uncontrollably. Things change when a drug called Darkenfloxx is introduced. It causes the user to become so sick, that they have suicidal thoughts. Jeff is given the task to decide which of the other prisoners get to take it, and he decides to rebel.
While the events seem big, everything takes place in the Spiderhead base. This fancy prison will become more and more dreary as the movie goes on.
Performances
Teller plays Jeff convincingly, and you can tell he wants to get along with the others, while also wanting to atone for his past. But the true star is Hemsworth. He plays the seemingly friendly scientist who jokes with his prisoners and co-worker, but can become sinister and unpredictable at a moment’s notice. The closest performance we can compare this to is that of Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina.
The movie is completely absurd and over-the-top, but that becomes its saving grace. And Kosinski, along with Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have proven just how well they exceed in their own fields.
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