Spider

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

David Cronenberg loves crazy—his scar-fucking scene in Crash still curls our cuticles—and Spider takes us straight back to the loony bin. Following his release from a mental institution, mumbling, bumbling Dennis “Spider” Cleg (Ralph Fiennes) takes advantage of the loose regulations at his new halfway house and starts meandering through his old neighborhood. Eventually, childhood memories begin to surface (you know, father murders mother, replaces her with prostitute, blah, blah, blah…), and we start to see why he can’t formulate a complete sentence. The film’s momentum stumbles over several tedious scenes, though its deliberate pace helps flesh out the subtle character changes of Miranda Richardson playing three different, integral roles. Instead of trying to elicit cringes, Cronenberg plainly pieces events together so that you forget just how much sick and twisted shit is transpiring. Viewers are rewarded in the end, having finally assembled Cleg’s peculiar puzzle. Unfortunately, that’s followed shortly by the realization that puzzles are about as satisfying as wound sex.