Film Review: "Spiderhead"

Director Joseph Kosinski had some major success a month ago with the release of “Top Gun: Maverick.” It’s a success that thrived by welcoming audiences back to the theater after the COVID-19 pandemic. His latest film, “Spiderhead,” premiering on Netflix is an entirely different experience. Based on the short story, “Escape from Spiderhead,” we reside in the near future where convicts volunteer to participate as medical subjects for shortened sentences. Curated by the mysterious Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth), there are more mysteries in “Spiderhead” than meets the eye. All of this is shown through the eyes of a convict named Jeff (Miles Teller) who begins to uncover what’s happening in this facility.

The attempt of this premise plays out like a paranoid thriller from the 1970s and 1980s. Add in a dash of dark sci-fi, you have a story that should be consistently thrilling from scene one. “Spiderhead” unfortunately does nothing to stand out in this crowded field of paranoid sci-fi thrillers. The screenplay by writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick is trying to juggle many different tones. There are so many tones in the film's 107-minute running time that never quite fit together as they should. Especially when these characters have done some very despicable things that had them end up in the Spiderhead facility. Simultaneously there are moments of humor, which work because of Hemsworth. 

Playing Thor allowed audiences to gravitate toward him as a performer, especially with how funny he is. His role in this film has to ride a tricky tonal balance of charm mixed with mystery and menace. It’s consistently engaging and incredibly surprising seeing how he reacts to any situation. Each situation becomes darker and more sadistic, which makes Hemsworth’s line deliver that much more darkly funny. He’s showing us a newfound range of acting abilities that make me excited to see what he does next. Reese and Wernick’s script gives Hemsworth’s role the most impressive depth. That sort of writing is unfortunately skipped over on the rest of the cast. 

Miles Teller, who was also in “Top Gun: Maverick,” is meant to be our eyes and ears in this world. His character Jeff is fitting the archetypal role of the good guy who was put into a bad situation. Teller isn’t bad in the part, but he isn’t given anything very surprising or exciting to do. He’s meant to be our eyes and ears in this world which is all that the script calls for him to do. Being the audience conduit, Teller’s performance is much more reactionary based above all else. This character is given a backstory, but the audience is never once given the time to connect with him emotionally. The closest to a genuine relationship we see in the film involves the character of Lizzy, played by Journee Smollett. 

The sequences between Smollet and Teller are the most humane and genuine moments of the entire film. Both form an instant connection, which feels honest and real in a world that’s so heightened. Their chemistry and the injections of humor from Hemsworth are the three strongest points of the film. Even certain moments involving music from Hall & Oates and The Doobie brothers give the story some much-needed energy. It’s a lot of interesting ingredients that unfortunately don’t add up to a satisfying whole. Which makes the screenplay seem to be the culprit of the film's problems.

It’s hard to deny the ambition of the story “Spiderhead” wants to tell. These sorts of thrillers are the sorts of stories that don’t get made anymore. This is what makes the finished result all the more disappointing. We’re given such a talented ensemble, including a career-best performance by Chris Hemsworth. The problem is that it is all in service of a story that doesn’t know what it wants to say. Our finished product is a film that’s full of jumbled ideas and tones that never connect as they should. Coming off the heels of “Top Gun: Maverick,” it makes the finished result all the more frustrating. “Spiderhead” isn’t the worst film I've seen so far this year but it also isn't one that is likely to be remembered. Unless it’s included in a homage to the career of Chris Hemsworth.