Spider is one of those truly baffling oddities: a film that has brilliance in it, yet almost does its best to hide it. Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Patrick McGrath, the film gives Ralph Fiennes’ eponymous central character little to do other than wander around a haunted and desolate London, only muttering occasionally, re-enacting traumatic scenes from his childhood.
Having a central character whose role in the film is entirely passive makes for very difficult viewing, and while Fiennes’ performance is impressive and committed, it is not one from which we can derive any pleasure.
The film, which director Cronenberg describes as a psychodrama influenced by Samuel Beckett, is as minimal and perplexing as anything the playwright himself produced. After the criticism of his last film, eXistenZ, as insubstantial fun, it’s almost as if Cronenberg wanted to make a film that was its polar opposite. Fluffy and light this is not.