In the near future, convicts are offered the chance to volunteer as medical subjects to shorten their sentence. One such subject for a new drug capable of generating feelings of love, laughter, and pain begins questioning the reality of emotions. Located in a remote and quite luxurious prison where inmates volunteer to be tested on with a new drug that can affect emotions, SPIDERHEAD has an initial concept that is pretty fantastic.
Abnesti (Hemsworth) is heading up the research. He’s the typical good looking, rich, scientist with a playful attitude archetype in which Hemsworth truly shines. Jeff (Teller) is an inmate, whose unfortunate crime is slowly told through flashbacks as the film progresses. Jeff, along with many other inmates, willingly enter a room where they have to “acknowledge” the acceptance of whatever drug will be given to them. Abnesti and his assistant, Verlaine (Mark Paguio), are on the other side of a glass speaking freely with the subject or subjects. It’s important to paint this picture as a good portion of the film lies within these two rooms.
After the huge success of TOP GUN: MAVERICK releasing last month, director Joseph Kosinski returns with Miles Teller and Chris Hemsworth in the Netflix film SPIDERHEAD. In the limited exterior shots, you can see evidence of the director’s grand skill set he put to use in MAVERICK. These shots are important, as it sets the mood of the remote area for the prison, but also the epic expense it must take to run such a fancy facility.
But as I mentioned, SPIDERHEAD is mostly quite intimate in rather plain, cleanly structured rooms. However, Kosinski still manages to keep things fairly compelling. Based on the short story “Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders, the screenplay is written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. While the concept is interesting, the talent and charisma of the two leads, Miles Teller and Chris Hemsworth, helps elevate the material.
However, SPIDERHEAD never fully reaches its potential. Something about it feels diluted or less grand to make it truly memorable. Every decision or climactic solution is softened, keeping it out of the viewers psyche and not trying to tackle bigger issues. That’s not necessarily wrong, it just leaves the film less impactful. Perhaps the big stars involved unfairly give the film a higher expectation. Don’t get me wrong, I fully enjoyed SPIDERHEAD and think it’s a solid Netflix original. Eventually, once the film is forgotten, which may not be long, I believe SPIDERHEAD will have a resurgence as a little gem to those who love the genre.
