Spiderhead: Another mediocre attempt from Netflix

With nothing to do in my summer vacation, I started scrolling through Netflix to see if they had anything new in store. I saw the mediocre collection of shows with Stranger Things on their most viewed page and a new movie, starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller.

I tried giving this movie, Spiderhead, a watch and I have concluded that Netflix is desperately trying to crawl out of the grave they created and just putting money on literally anything that may make them relevant.

Spiderhead follows a group of prisoners at a testing facility controlled by a charismatic scientist named Steve Abnesti, played by Hemsworth. We follow Jeff, a prisoner in the facility, played by Teller, who wants redemption for the crimes he committed. Jeff and the other prisoners are subjected to multiple drug tests and are tasked to "make the world a better place" via these experiments.

This movie was mediocre at best, with too many overused tropes. Midway into the story, things were getting kind of repetitive and falling flat as the subjected prisoners were just asked to test the same drugs. The drugs, although colourful, didn't really show any out of the ordinary effect. However, with the acting from Miles and Chris, the movie could progress in a steady pace. I would also like to add that this movie had great soundtrack which made every scene's atmosphere enjoyable.

Apart from the mediocrity, the film also had many unrealistic tropes. The prisoners stay in an unbelievably gorgeous building with almost everything handed to them in a silver platter. Each of them resides in a large room, enjoys delicious cuisine, and has access to arcades and fitness centres. This really strays the fact that they are criminals and have done horrible crimes and reduces the depth this movie is trying really hard to provide.

Finally, the worst part about this movie is that it could have been something much more enriching. The ideas were, dare I say, kind of brilliant but the movie tried to stay as scripted as possible. Nothing felt real or thought-provoking.

Characters make weird decisions and some characters we do not even get to know properly become something else, via a motivational talk. It felt like the movie was setting up this messed up and twisted ending but just boils down to a badly choreographed action scene and a generic villain death.

However, I would like to mention that I do not dislike this film. But I don't like it that well either. The film was just painfully average and I wanted more from a filmmaker as talented as Joseph Kosinski, who helmed Top Gun: Maverick and Tron. Netflix can't really greenlight any good media for the past few months and instead resort to quantity over quality.

Spiderhead is just one of the few examples of this with many more to come. With this steady stream of content, Netflix may just keep on losing viewers and add that last nail to their coffin.

Abhoy Hriddo just scrolls Instagram all day waiting for the next update on The Boys. Send him your thoughts at abhoyhriddo@gmail.com