Written by Robert Scucci | Published
If only we all had access to those little bags that use drugs from 2022 Spider headI am not sure we will ever recover as a society. In the movie, drug testing is done in a controlled environment, and still the whole operation turns into chaos. In real life, if everyone could lower their inhibitions, laugh out loud, and use every sense of fun with a mobile app, bridges would stop being built and no one would be working in hospitals. Such is the power of drugs Spider head.
As you will soon see, nothing good can come from the kind of psychological testing it is exposed to Spider headespecially when those tests are conducted by a man with dubious and sinister intentions. The subjects are technically willing participants, but the circumstances that lead them to volunteer will make you question who is really at fault here.
A Minimum Security Drug Prison
Live completely in the titular prison, Spider head focuses on a prisoner named Jeff (Miles Teller). Taking advantage of the vehicular manslaughter, Jeff participates in a psychological experiment conducted by Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) in order to receive a reduced sentence. Steve works on a love drug known as N-40, which causes his subjects to become ecstatic, and the experiments are very successful. Or so they think.
After repeated, controlled sexual encounters under the influence of N-40, Jeff is asked which one of his partners should be put on a drug called Darkenfloxx, which causes extreme psychological torture when administered through their MobiPaks (the technical name for those nifty little boxes). Unable to choose, because N-40 only works for a short time and creates intense feelings of lust without love, Steve and his assistant Mark (Mark Paguio) conduct research on Darkenfloxx on a woman named Heather, who kills herself in less than five minutes.
As he begins to suspect Steve’s motives, Jeff confides in Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett), another inmate he is close to. Discovering Jeff’s romantic feelings for Lizzy, Steve pushes him to continue the experiment using her as a test subject, which opens the whole operation. Although he was willing to obey the law to get less jail time, Jeff draws a line in the sand where someone he truly cares about can be in danger. Steve is trying to see if he can trick someone into killing their love, and Jeff wants nothing to do with it.
A Cool Mind That Destroys Murder
While Spider head has a lot going for it when you consider its concept and the talent involved, it falls flat because it doesn’t feel like a complete idea. While the angle surrounding Chris Hemsworth’s Steve Abnesti is being pursued to its logical conclusion, there’s too much to take away that can’t be touched on.
The whole “big pharma is bad” plot is something we’ve seen before, but there’s a better story here that isn’t entirely focused. The most interesting angle is Jeff’s willingness to participate in this experiment where the subjects are complete strangers, only to do a complete 180 when there is someone he really cares about at the table. Pharma bros will do what pharma bros do, but it’s very compelling to see what kind of torture someone is willing to put someone through to protect themselves.
Jeff is far from innocent Spider head. We know that he accidentally killed his friend and his girlfriend while driving drunk, and is now serving his time in probation. But he also takes the easy way out without taking too long to look at himself. Instead, he works alongside his captor, pumping people full of drugs and waiting to see what happens so he can get less jail time. The bits are there for a deeper character read in Jeff, but the film ends up focusing on how amoral Steve is, which feels like a disservice to the story.
A strong mind that never stops coming, Spider head It’s an attractive watch, but it’s hard to find a character that isn’t very appealing to the design. If Jeff had had more depth, we would have gotten a more compelling story about compliance, ethics, and self-defense. Instead, we get a movie full of talent but not fully aware of its potential.
Spider head is a Netflix original and can be streamed with an active subscription.
