Ralph Fiennes plays a grown man haunted by his childhood in David Cronenberg's stylized psychological drama Spider. Upon his release from a mental institution, Spider (Fiennes) takes up residence in a halfway house. Paranoid, quiet, and forever making notes, Spider spends much of the film remembering scenes from his youth, specifically a horrific event from his childhood that occurred after he came to believe that his father (Gabriel Byrne) was having an affair on his mother (Miranda Richardson). The psychological terror builds to a climax that challenges how much the viewer can believe Spider's recollections of the event. Bradley Hall plays Spider as a boy, and Richardson portrays many different women who come into contact with Spider. Spider was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
- editor rating
-
3.5
- user rating
- mpaa rating
- flags
-
- Violence
- Nudity
- Adult Situations
- Adult Humor
- Profanity
- Sexual Situations
- genres
- sub-genres
- category
- Feature
- directed by
- countries
- Canada, UK
- release date
-
- February 28, 2003 (USA - Limited)
- run time
- 98 min.
- produced by
- Davis Films, Catherine Bailey, Metropolitan Films, Artists Independent Network, Capitol Films
- released by
- Artists Independent Network, Sony Pictures Classics
by Perry Seibert
synopsis
- Nervous-breakdown
- Mental-illness
- Lunacy
- Memory
- Haunted By The Past
- Memories
- Youth
- Young
- Mothers And Sons
- Adultery
- Head Trips
- Extramarital-affair
- Infidelity
- Adulterer
- Father
