Synopsis
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
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Cast
- Ralph FiennesSpider
- Miranda RichardsonYvonne / Mrs. Cleg
- Gabriel ByrneBill Cleg
- Lynn RedgraveMrs. Wilkinson
- John NevilleTerrence
- Philip CraigJohn
- Bradley HallSpider Boy
- Gary ReinekeFreddy
- Sara StockbridgeGladys
- Cliff SaundersBob
- 90
Washington Post
His story is sad, compelling and morbidly, tragically watchable. - 90
Wall Street Journal
The most elegantly crafted and confidently directed of all his (Cronenberg's) films, it's a calm, chilling portrait of a blighted soul and, just as calmly but quite stunningly, an evocation of the thought processes behind the blight. - 88
Rolling Stone
What catches us in Spider's web -- besides the indelible performances of Fiennes and Richardson -- is the director's sympathy with this freak man-child who struggles to order his confused memories into a kind of truth. - 88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
This is a rare adaptation where the script (by McGrath himself) heads straight for the novel's horrible essence, reproducing it non-verbally and in an even more concentrated form. - 88
Chicago Tribune
A shocker for devotees of stylish angst and psychological torment. You'll have to watch it with patience and great attention, but it richly rewards that patience. - 80
Film Threat
This is the film that "Shine" and A Beautiful Mind could not be, a story about schizophrenia that doesn’t neatly resolve its complex subject matter. - 80
Salon
It isn't likely to drive anybody out of the theater -- although getting people out of the house to see a meticulous, minimalist study of madness and memory may be another story. - 78
Austin Chronicle
Cronenberg’s nonlinear narrative is trying at times – it keeps you nearly as off-kilter as the characters, and surely that’s intentional – but as a character piece about madness and stymied dreams, it’s remarkably realistic.