Short Stops: Spider
Genre: Short Film, Suspense
We liked?
Fast moving
Excellent use of actions instead of dialog
Not so much?
A surprisingly good shocker, short film that is quick moving and easy to watch even without much dialog.
Every now and then a movie or video comes along that makes you think, “what the (insert your own personally acceptably colorful expletive here) did I just watch”? For me, Spider was one of those films.
Spider starts out innocent enough with a couple, using the very vanilla names Jack and Jill, who is having a disagreement in a car. Jill accusing Jack of “taking things too far by one step”. Jack tries to defuse the tension with jokes, but Jill won’t have any of it.
When they stop for gas, Jack gathers a bag full of peace offerings from the convenience store while Jill fills the tank. Being the consummate jokester, Jack also buys a fake plastic spider which he conceals in the visor – once again, taking things a step too far. Jill attempts to reject Jack’s gifts, throwing the flowers back at him, tearing down the picture of the puppy he hangs, but finally she succumbs to his last offering of chocolate. When doesn’t chocolate work to cool a woman’s fury?
I think you’ve likely guessed that Jill finds the last surprise patiently waiting for her on her visor, if for no other reason than the title. The movie manages to cram a few really good cringe moments in to close out the movie, which is really where the movie will either hit or miss for you. If you don’t like the turn it takes, you won’t like the movie, but for me, it made it worth the watch.
There is very little dialog in the movie, but the actions that the characters go through speaks plenty. The characters are believable and even likable, as much as you can be in such a short film. The acting is pretty good, which isn’t always easy to find in short films and I think it’s easy for most people to relate Jack to someone in their life who is always trying to do something for the joke. Nash Edgerton pulls in triple duty in this movie as a writer, director and playing ‘Jack’.
Weighing in at less than 10 minutes, Spider is certainly worth watching and not just for those who enjoy a good thriller either. It’s short enough that you shouldn’t regret watching it, even if you don’t end up liking it as much as I did.
Introducing Short Stops, a weekly column featuring reviews of short films.