Spiderhead is a 2022 American science fiction thriller film directed by Joseph Kosinski, with a screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, based on the dystopian short story “Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders. The film stars Chris Hemsworth (who also co-produced), Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett. Principal photography took place in Australia in 2020.
Spiderhead premiered in Sydney on June 11, 2022, and was released on Netflix on June 17, 2022. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
Spiderhead is a state-of-the-art penitentiary experimenting with the effects of research chemicals. The test subjects, technically prisoners of the state, are volunteers for the project aiming to reduce their sentence time. The program is overseen by the sympathetic and hospitable Steve Abnesti, along with his assistant Mark. The prisoners have their own rooms, do chores, and are free to roam without guard supervision. The subjects go through daily test runs of various drugs, all of which alter their emotions and their perceptions of their surroundings.
Inmate Jeff, still reeling from having killed his friend whilst drunk driving, is given N-40, a “love drug”, which distorts his senses and drives him to have sex with two of his fellow inmates. Steve asks him to choose which one of them to give Darkenfloxx, a drug that induces intense fear and psychological pain. He declines to choose, claiming he feels nothing in particular for either one of them after the effects of the love drug had worn off.
The next day, Steve tells him that the “higher ups” have chosen for him and that the younger of the two women, Heather, must be injected with a dose, though it will only last five minutes. Jeff reluctantly agrees, and to his horror, Heather commits suicide while on the Darkenfloxx after she damages her MobiPak, the device that administers the drugs. This causes Mark to doubt their work in the facility. As Steve rushes out of the projection room, he drops his keys. Jeff unlocks Steve’s desk compartment, discovering that there are no “higher-ups”: the prison is run by Abnesti Pharmaceuticals. The drugs were named from a bingo card.
Steve and Jeff get high together on a laughing drug, as Steve also has a MobiPak installed. Steve tells Jeff that his father abandoned him as a child. Jeff confesses to Lizzy, an inmate he is close with, that he not only killed his friend in the car accident but his girlfriend as well. Lizzy hugs him and they kiss. Steve notices Jeff’s feelings for Lizzy. Mark becomes doubtful of Steve’s motives, and he breaks down when Jeff confronts him.
WATCH SPIDERHEAD OFFICIAL TRAILER HERE
WATCH COMPLETE MOVIE HERE ON NETFLIX
Cast
Miles Teller as Jeff
Chris Hemsworth as Steve Abnesti
Jurnee Smollett as Lizzy
Mark Paguio as Mark Verlaine
Tess Haubrich as Heather
Angie Milliken as Sarah
Stephen Tongun as Ray
Daniel Reader as Ryan
Sam Delich as Adam
BeBe Bettencourt as Emma
Joey Vieira as Miguel
Ron Smyck as Dave
Nathan Jones as Rogan
