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Spider
Spider
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Spider

Spider

2002
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 38m
Dennis Clegg is in his thirties and lives in a halfway house for the mentally ill in London. Dennis, nicknamed "Spider" by his mother has been institutionalized with acute schizophrenia for some 20 years. He has never truly recovered, however, and as the story progresses we vicariously experience his increasingly fragile grip on reality. (imdb)

Spider

2002
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 38m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 53.17% from 1555 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1563)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 20 Mar 2014
43
13th
His hold on reality was equivalent to my interest in the story, both loosened the longer the movie went on. I guess when the guy who makes movies about chest vaginas casts the guy who walks around without a nose in Harry Potter, I expected either more or less body parts.
Rated 13 May 2023
79
73rd
Nobody rocks 4 button-up shirts simultaneously like my man Ralph. It's wild to remember that this was in theaters at the same time as Spider-Man. I'd like to think some parents brought their kids to see Spider instead by mistake
Rated 23 Nov 2010
80
86th
Not your typical Cronenberg. Decent little story about a man traumatized by a childhood tragedy that could have benefitted from some trimming here and there. The whole thing about Fiennes actually solving a puzzle, as he's trying to piece together his fragmented mind was a bit on the nose maybe. Miranda Richardson impressed me, so versatile. And I also liked the supporting turn by Neville.
Rated 25 Sep 2010
75
72nd
Small, dark and mean. Cronenbergs low key approach is as surprising as it is admirable. I would hardly make any enemies stating that this is a Fiennes Tour de Force, but in all honesty, having re-watched this three times, I am still not convinced that it's Miranda Richardson playing both parts.
Rated 21 Aug 2017
70
43rd
I appreciate the attempt at slow burn suspense and the gradual unwinding of truth, but somewhere along the way my mind went a wandering and never really came back with any sort of satisfaction.
Rated 29 Aug 2015
55
21st
A technical masterwork that ranks among one of Cronenberg's most intricately plotted, with visual storytelling and essential symbolism. Spider's web falls apart when the technical side never gets to completely eclipse with the screenplay. Every scene is a slow dance to a point realized two steps in. The thriller format proves to be poor as the film never manages to attach thrills to any of its scenes due to how misaligned the plot is with the narrative. An impressive, palpably unimportant bore.
Rated 22 Feb 2015
3
73rd
Unreliable narrator or not, much of the dialogue seemed too obvious, added to the heavy symbolism it came across very stage-play. The voyeuristic way a lot of it was shown distanced, so lessened the impacts of the psychotic effects. A relief for some perhaps but, as a fan of paranoia in cinema it left me a little frustrated.
Rated 24 Apr 2013
30
17th
Pathetically slow and plodding. The story, if you can sit through it without falling asleep, is sad and a little scary. A boy imagines his mother has been killed by his father and a local harlot, who then takes her place. He sets a trap and kills the woman, only to discover that it is his mother after all and that those events were all in his mind. As an adult, he slowly relives the childhood horror in painful detail until he reaches the final conclusion about what really happened.
Rated 13 Jul 2012
30
23rd
Some good moments, but all in all very like a well-produced GCSE drama piece. Far too on-the-nose and obvious, especially for a Cronenberg film - man stands looking over his childhood self and repeating his childhood words! Man pieces together literal jigsaw puzzle while reassembling his past! - and if you have half a brain you will see the ending coming a mile away.
Rated 08 Aug 2011
64
42nd
There's certainly plenty of psychological meatiness for Cronenberg to sink his sharp teeth into, but there's a general lack of zest to the work. It's solid, but it also feels a little like the director marking time, waiting for real inspiration to strike. Fiennes is the master of internalized emotion, but he takes that skill perhaps too far. His character becomes a shambling cipher. Richardson, however, is blazingly sensational in a performance that essentially encompasses multiple roles.
Rated 18 Apr 2011
50
44th
Moderately interesting exploration of isolation, paranoia and delusion that comes across as a bit too much of a formal exercise, without quite enough meat on the bones. Or in other words, there is not quite enough compensation for the viewer who agrees to take this morose journey that at times also comes across as a little stagey.
Rated 12 May 2010
5
81st
Seemingly incomplete, but a harrowing inspection of the psyche either way. Top-notch effort from Cronenberg in all areas.
Rated 29 Apr 2009
50
10th
I might need to rewatch this because the first time around it felt like nothing was happening and I got increasingly bored.
Rated 22 Nov 2008
79
61st
At times Cronenberg succeeds at creating a very disturbing atmosphere, but he fails to maintain it for the duration of the film. In any case, the film ends up being far too simplistic, considering the subject matter is as complex as schizophrenia. The acting, however, is topnotch.
Rated 22 Jun 2008
78
56th
A nice small film from Cronenberg; not much of a groundbreaking effort but is a solid production all around.
Rated 28 Dec 2007
70
64th
I like this piece but pacing was pretty slow. Slowness itself is not bad, but there was not really any highs or surprises in this story.
Rated 24 Sep 2024
80
80th
Amazing David and a great performance by Fiennes
Rated 19 Feb 2024
40
19th
So low key that it's unsatisfying. Cronenberg just can't get into the subject with sufficient depth, and this is submerged beneath his overbearing style. Hardly surprised, as A Dangerous Method suffers from the same problems, except that one also lacked for style.
Rated 28 Aug 2023
41
34th
This is just everyday life in England.
Rated 16 Apr 2022
35
17th
Extremely boring and predictable. Would work way better as a short film.
Rated 03 Feb 2022
84
73rd
If the film feels like a pure, cold exercise in style, it is still a largely riveting experience; Cronenberg’s tactile, visceral evocation of Clegg’s scattered and confused mind-set is ably assisted by Fiennes’ painfully contained performance, but this proves to be an even better showcase for Richardson: utterly magnificent (and astonishingly convincing) in her multiple roles. Becomes less interesting when it loses focus on the peculiar family dynamic at play, traversing more familiar material.
Rated 20 Nov 2021
40
3rd
Canbarelytalk+Sohisdadcheated/killedmomwhenshesawlol+butdadthinkshescrazyandihardlypaidattentionlol+sohekilledhisrealmomthinkingfakelol
Rated 03 Feb 2021
3
72nd
The medical condition makes this one interesting.
Rated 08 Oct 2020
69
59th
Fiennes plays fantastically a schizophrenic man with troubled childhood. Film is directed and written so well that at the end you might get understand what the madman thinks
Rated 28 Jul 2018
64
14th
Barely made it through this. It had dull pacing, a bland aesthetic, and Ralph Fiennes is a hack. I guess I can't say I was quite as bored as I was with Dead Ringers though.
Rated 21 Oct 2016
6
2nd
null
Rated 21 Feb 2016
13
69th
Star Rating: ★★★1/2
Rated 07 Oct 2015
95
86th
This is the exact way to depict Oedipus complex and its possible reaches.
Rated 02 Jan 2015
50
0th
David Cronenberg #6
Rated 12 Aug 2014
90
81st
Unequivocally Cronenberg's darkest film by far, he has an uncommonly quiet lead performance drive a soul-stirring mood piece about the vulnerability of sanity, leaving us with indeterminate questions about what's real and what's not, and about the flimsiness of our own memories.
Rated 29 Jan 2014
40
12th
Man with a broken mind mumbles a lot
Rated 10 Jan 2014
40
34th
Couldn't finish
Rated 30 Nov 2013
68
43rd
There isn't anything terribly loud about this film, it plays calm and under-dramatised. One for audiences of subtlety with slight turns of reality to put together the puzzle of Mr Cleg & indulge the mind in. Good use of imagery & like all of Cronenberg's works, its a well crafted, well finished film.
Rated 07 Oct 2013
79
61st
78.500
Rated 15 Jul 2013
93
50th
Too easy to anticipate the ending.
Rated 23 Feb 2013
68
68th
It really gets you inside the mind of a mad man that may or may have not killed his father's lover -- or actually his mom --, a man what wanders over his thoughts, his childhood memories (or pseudo-memories) and his notebook filled with incomprehensible writing. Spider is, basically, a story about a life narrative. It's full of lies, tricks and exits that might or might not be real -- in the end, be it true or invention, it doesn't matter at all.
Rated 26 Oct 2012
50
4th
Spider has Ralph Fiennes playing a role that's equal parts Cosmo Kramer and Rain Man and somehow it still isn't very good.
Rated 21 Aug 2012
75
52nd
Creepy.
Rated 08 Aug 2012
60
62nd
Not bad at all.
Rated 11 Jun 2012
80
75th
We oddly don't experience Dennis as a subject although the film is very close to being in the first person. We instead experience Dennis as a kind of lens through which the events of the world are distorted.
Rated 12 Mar 2012
5
18th
Ralph Fiennes is outstandingly believable in a very intense film which offers no sense of hope or relief whatsoever. Bleak and depressing.
Rated 10 Mar 2012
69
41st
Slow, but decent psychological thriller. Fiennes is good, but the film just lacked in the exciting departing. Coming from Cronenberg, I expected something a little more interesting. Not Cronenberg's worst film, but if you want an introduction to his fare I'd suggest starting with a different film like The Fly or A History of Violence.
Rated 30 Dec 2011
80
54th
Cronenberg's most under-rated. The halfway point between his kooky films and his straight-laced films.
Rated 13 Sep 2011
82
70th
Through Cronenberg's expertly handling on delivering a narrative from A-Z, it's a pleasure to watch this mystery unravel. Ralph Fiennes totally sells his performance as a schizophrenic; it's so fantastic that he barely needs any dialogue to make him a memorable character.
Rated 06 Jun 2011
75
73rd
Ralph Fiennes's portrayal of a man lost in the grip of schizophrenia is very good and is the big highlight of this exploration of one man's struggle with his grip on reality.
Rated 18 May 2011
85
65th
Ralph Fiennes is brilliant in this accomplished and haunting David Cronenberg film.
Rated 11 Mar 2011
30
12th
The definition of completely and utterly forgettable. The first Cronenberg film I've ever seen that really left me with... nothing.
Rated 04 Mar 2011
75
63rd
Cronenberg is a genius.
Rated 19 Oct 2010
40
97th
"The film's grayish mise-en-scene evokes the texture of a spider web, and the film's characters appear to hang from that web." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 20 May 2010
70
43rd
The bleak King's Cross locations perfectly reflect the disturbed interior of Fiennes' mind. I felt troubled by this film, but not very sympathetic.
Rated 03 Mar 2010
88
89th
Creepy and sad, Cronenberg proves he is a master filmmaker.
Rated 13 Jan 2010
0
4th
The most boring movie ever made. There's nothing engaging or likeable whatsoever. A complete disgrace.
Rated 21 Dec 2009
87
75th
A very creepy film from Cronenberg.
Rated 18 Dec 2009
80
51st
Ralph Fiennes is wonderful. A weird thriller, but it captures your imagination.
Rated 02 Nov 2009
79
33rd
very strange movie, one of the first films i saw by Cronenberg
Rated 01 Aug 2009
70
67th
Some pacing issues, but if you give it time and attention you'll be rewarded.
Rated 28 Apr 2009
93
85th
One of Cronenberg's most austere and delicate films, a portrait of a shattered psyche held together by single images and impressions in time.
Rated 28 Feb 2009
60
28th
Soooo slow.....
Rated 09 Feb 2009
78
17th
Dumb movie
Rated 18 Dec 2008
23
6th
Probably my least favorite cronenberg film. I was just bored and tired and didn't know what was going on.
Rated 19 Oct 2008
70
76th
good movie
Rated 03 Aug 2008
88
81st
Quite good
Rated 18 Feb 2008
2
33rd
It doesn't really help when you figure out the "surprise twist" about five minutes after its groundwork has been laid. Ralph Fiennes gives a good performance in this otherwise mediocre movie.
Rated 19 Dec 2007
55
29th
cervellotico
Rated 23 Oct 2007
30
14th
Acting and directing might be great, but this is only one of those far too predictable psychological thrillers. Except while watching this, I almost fell asleep. Boring movie.
Rated 20 Oct 2007
90
83rd
An impeccable performance by Ralph Fiennes. Massively superior in its depiction of mental illness to the trite "A Beautiful Mind."
Rated 16 Sep 2007
75
79th
A Beautiful Mind with all the happy parts cut out.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
75
50th
Nice, the end is a marvel! Ok, it's a slow starter and the medical story doesn't fit, but it's still a great movie!
Rated 14 Aug 2007
48
7th
Stylistically it's got that unique Cronenberg touch, but otherwise it's a rather pointless and boring movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
76
36th
i saw this but I think I was drunk, or high, or both. It was memorable only for its forgetableness
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
82nd
Slow burning but man does it crackle. The kind of movie you can't stop watching.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
92
91st
Delicate schizophrenia study, restrained and reverent. Ralph Fiennes is terrific. Very highly recommended.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
84th
Fiennes is great in the title role, as is Miranda richardson. One of the few non horror/sci fi films for cronenberg and non the worse for it.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
95th
Friggin terrifying
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
36th
Spider is recommended for some thoughtful portrayals and moments of intelligence.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
75
73rd
Strange but good. Watch Fiennes carefully in this one.
Rated 27 Jan 2007
85
68th
The kid playing little Fiennes should be commended. Robert Carlyle was never greasier.
Rated 03 Jan 2007
90
87th
Estreava há 20 anos nos EUA. Foi um dos meus filmes favoritos quando foi lançado no cinema, mas acho um Cronenberg profundamente subestimado, hoje em dia ninguém fala mais dele comparado a outras obras do diretor. Ainda segura firme nos percalços da psicose, ainda não o tinha o revisto depois de adentrar no meu percurso em psicanálise e agora acho que é um dos filmes mais completos nesse sentido. Cronenberg mais uma vez se solidifica como o diretor psicanalítico por excelência. DVD Versátil.
Rated 30 Nov 2006
70
75th
Directed with more subtlety than what one had come to expect from the "Master of Venereal Horror", Spider is a well-made, thoughtful and compelling psychological drama with Freudian subtext.

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