Spiderhead

I thought this was superb. Hemsworth and Teller are both excellent actors and work really well here, Hemsworth's progression through the duration is superb. Smollett rounds things out nicely, but feels a bit underused at the beginning.

I really found little to complain about here. I get the ending was a bit too... idealised. I'd kind of preferred a more tragic or enigmatic closer, but beyond that, great.

I thought this movie was quite good, especially for a Netflix original, though I do agree the ending fell a bit flat.

The writing is strong. It's a great example of show, not tell, as there was very little exposition in this unfamiliar world and yet we could easily understand what was going on.

All the actors did an incredible job of having to show a wide range of extreme emotions, sometimes having to switch between them quite quickly. Smollett is always a dream to watch, please put her in everything. Even Hemsworth, who is usually just meh to me did a fantastic job in this. I'm excited to see him in more films that have this quality of direction and writing.

The plot does a good job of exploring the intersections of late stage capitalism meets carceral culture. The themes of redemption, love and forgiveness through the narrative without needing to hammer down on these too much. Though I do enjoy a deep, heady, academic exploration of these topics, I also like when a story can let the morals come through via the emotional impact of the narrative, and this movie does that well, allowing us to meet the prisoners as people first, seeing their humanity before we learn of their mistakes, and feel appalled at how they are experimented on.

The twists were well delivered and the pacing was perfect for me, keeping me glued to the story while giving the characters space to do emotional development in the quiet moments.

All in all I had a great time. More of this please!

Very strong premise and great performances. The last 10 minutes really let the film down.
The writing decision to involve [spoiler]B-6 (Obediex), stripping away the prisoners' agency and taking the inherent oppressive nature of prison out of the equation, ruined any commentary the film was trying to make on false free will and brainwashing.[/spoiler]

With these two cast leads and a fresh sci-fi thriller, I’m all in. Unfortunately, this rock solid premise doesn’t really go anywhere as the story unravels. I really enjoyed the build up. I really enjoyed where I hoped the story would go. Maybe this could have been better served as a mini series to build up where the plot was headed. If it was a theater release, I probably would be suckered in and leaving somewhat disappointed. But as a straight to Netflix film, it’s worth watching.

Rating: 2.5/5 - 7/10 - Worth Watching

The soundtrack was fantastic, mostly from the 80s. Entertaining for a cyberpunk watch.

interesting story,nice music, and some funny moments.

Interesting and different kind of storyline. Unfortunately it's very likely something that could (if it isn't already) happen and none of us would be any wiser about it. Quality acting from pretty much all the frontrunners and the soundtrack was excellent. (I'm a fan of Herb Alpert and Chuck Mangione music, though, so I'm probably a bit biased.) I would give this a watch if you're just (like I was) tired of the "same ol' same ol'" and are looking for something different.

What there is, I enjoyed. It felt like it needed more depth but despite or maybe because of that it doesn't overstay its welcome.

The concept is a novel one. Certainly worth the effort.

The soundtrack is fantastic. One to pull up on a playlist and savour.

The casting is fine. Miles Teller continues to be himself and the rest of the cast do well with what they are given.

For a film that is a strange mix of The Island, Ex Machina, and something humorous like Zombieland, it is quite good but could have been more.

Points for the originality of the concept and the soundtrack.

7/10

Who knew Chris could act.

Going into _Spiderhead_ I was not expecting much due to the mixed bag of reviews, but I was really surprised. The concept is really interesting and very deranged, I found myself gasping out loud at scenarios that were presented to the inmates throughout the film. While I do agree that the third act does fall bit short, I still found it enjoyable enough. The acting in this movie was superb. Chris Hemsworth does an excellent job as the "villain," he really makes you believe that he is doing this out of a good heart. It was really nice seeing him play a somewhat demented scientist, which is outside of the comedic role that he has carved himself due to the MCU. Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett do a really good job as well, they have very emotionally invested scenes that bleed over to the audience. Overall, this film starts off strong and slowly fades towards the end but nothing that tremendously hurts the overall product.

**Verdict:** _Good_