Spider [2002]

Spider, unlike his earlier films, might not be bordering on the bizarre or grotesque, but it is in line with Canadian horror maestro David Cronenberg’s latent obsession with delving into the darkest of corners of the human mind. Adapted by Patrick McGrath from his own novel, Spider is a chilling and compelling account of a boy-man with a severely damaged mind, forever haunted by the dark memories of a horrible deed from his past. Released after spending twenty years in a mental asylum and allowed to take residence in a halfway house, Spider, as he roams the bleak and dreary landscapes of London, initially appears to be a man who has changed for the better, despite his many idiosyncrasies. However, we are gradually apprised of the fact that his mental decay has crossed the point of no return, and as he gets more and more enmeshed into the grimy details of his life in a dysfunctional blue-collar family, his fragile mind gets ever more close to getting irreparably and violently shattered. Ralph Fiennes has turned in a devastating, brooding, disquieting and ultimately triumphant performance as the quietly paranoid and forever muttering Spider, living an existence that is so isolated and volatile that most viewers might find the movie a difficult watch. The immaculately paced and nightmarish film also boasts of superb performances by the luscious Miranda Richardson as three distinctly different characters and Gabriel Byrne as Spider’s brutish father.





Director: David Cronenberg
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Psychological Horror
Language: English
Country: UK/Canada