‘Spiderhead’ review: The uninspired sci-fi thriller that completely refuses to go

a few weeks after the release of Top Gun: MaverickFilmmaker Joseph Kosinski has another release, spiderhead, which incidentally also has shots of a lead character piloting a plane. but spiderhead is nothing like the former, but rather, a dystopian science-fiction story in the same vein black Mirror And we get to see more such thrillers now, especially on Netflix.

spiderhead Follows the life of a criminal named Jeff (Kosinski Staples, played by Miles Teller) who is housed at the Spiderhead Penitentiary and Research Center, an exclusive facility on a secluded island. Spiderhead is no ordinary prison. It houses prisoners who have volunteered to live in this open-door facility, with the high-end infrastructure for prisons in Norway. The invisible committee that governs the facility asks only one condition to be met: that the prisoners agree to be part of the medical experiments that the facility’s manager Steve Abnesty (Chris Hemsworth) conducts. These frightening experiments are meant to assess the potency of drugs that can alter and induce emotion. The vials of these drugs are placed inside a device attached to the prisoners’ lower back, which is controlled via a software on Steve’s smartphone.

It is astonishing and shocking to see how these drugs create a specific feeling in the prisoners. Luvactin (or N-40) is the ‘love drug’ that makes one see the beauty in everything. Verbaluce (B-15) makes a person more eloquent, while Lafodil (G-46) makes a person laugh. The film’s conflict comes when Jeff, a part of the Luvactin experiment, witnesses the death of a prisoner who was injected with a dangerous substance. He begins to doubt Steve’s actions and questions if the whole purpose of conducting these experiments is to help humanity.

In the film’s introduction scene, Steve administers Laphodil to a prisoner named Ray (Stephen Tongun), who begins to crack after hearing the one-liners and sentences. The dwindling quality of the jokes doesn’t impress Ray, and he eventually starts laughing at silly facts like carnage. Choosing Lafodil is a good writing choice to introduce us to this world. It immediately draws us into the gloomy setting, alluding to the dangers posed by these drugs, as well as not revealing the trump cards the film intends to use later.

In spiderhead, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick let the characters drive the plot. As the story progresses, it is revealed that Jeff’s life takes a turn for the worse after a freak drunk-driving accident that killed those closest to him. Burdened with guilt and grief, his only recourse was Spiderhead; Lizzie (Journey Smollett), a fellow prisoner for whom he has feelings, is the only light in his tunnel. Surprisingly, the film’s antagonist also has a back story, which is briefly talked about, and spiderhead Rests on the emotional undercurrents between these broken human beings who are forced to live within limited boundaries. When it comes to the secondary characters, Steve’s assistant Mark (Mark Paguio) is a great addition. Mark is one of the great characters in this world, whose attempts to do good for humanity land him in the wrong hands. The character refuses to be the cliché assistant to the evil supervillain and has a real purpose in how the plot plays out. What’s disappointing is Lizzie’s character writing. Her back story is only touched upon briefly and she is reduced to merely a narrative device that will propel Jeff to make a huge leap forward in the third act, when he already has enough motivation to do so. Was.

Blame it on other new age sci-fi dystopian titles such as love, death and robots And black Mirrorthe opening scene spiderhead are written, giving a sense of anticipation of a major showdown that will take place at the end. It has a twist that is to be expected, but it is so clichéd and surprising. It’s frustrating when a movie refuses to go all out with everything in its arsenal, and spiderhead A film that had tremendous potential for a grand third act, even with its minimal geographic setting and limited number of characters. Plus, there’s a drastic tonal change at the end that doesn’t sit well as a flavor.

On the Plus Side, a Major Takeaway from spiderhead Its music. Every track from start to finish sounds fresh, and like administered drugs, there’s a piece of music for every mood. When it comes to performance, Hemsworth seems to be having the time of his life as an uber-cool tech-savvy bad boy who gets high on his supplies and brazenly uses prisoners like a puppet. Is. Both Hemsworth and Taylor have done enough justice to these demanding roles, especially considering that such films are unknown territory for both actors. If only his efforts had made for a better film, the roles could have been career-defining. The film, however, seems to have been made for an audience who took a vial of Luvactin and a hint of Lafodil.

Spiderhead is streaming on Netflix.