I love dystopian fiction. When I discovered “Black Mirror,” I devoured it. I am not a fast reader, but I finished “The Hunger Games” series in just a few days. As both a horror fan and someone who thinks about how to make my corner of the world a better place, good dystopian fiction really hits the spot. And with the new “Top Gun: Maverick” hitting so well, I was excited to see how Joseph Kosinski’s “Spiderhead” would play.
The Netflix movie opens with Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) telling cheesy jokes to a man sitting in a chair behind glass, laughing hysterically. We then hear Abnesti’s assistant Verlaine (Mark Paguio) reading off statistics about the Rwandan genocide, while the man continues his laughter. Just as we wonder how he can laugh at something so horrific, we see Abnesti turn a digital dial down on Laffodil, a drug that causes laughter.
It turns out the Spiderhead is a facility where non-violent offenders are offered a chance for greater freedoms and a shorter sentence than they would get at a state prison in exchange for agreeing to be subjects in a pharmaceutical experiment. One of the best subjects is Jeff (Miles Teller) who seems to have a special relationship with Abnesti.
The two drugs that the movie seems to focus on are Luvactin, a drug that causes the recipient to develop feelings of love and attraction for others, and Darkenfloxx, a drug that causes pain and anxiety for the recipient. Abnesti wants to determine if someone takes Luvactin, will they be unable to administer Darkenfloxx to the person they fell in “love” with later. As the story unfolds, we learn that there are darker motivations at play.
The movie has a lot going for it. The aesthetic is absolutely wonderful, and evokes the near future horror that I love. Hemsworth and Teller are both fantastic actors and their interactions show this wonderful tension between friendship and a wildly unbalanced power dynamic. There is a question if Jeff’s love interest Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett) is legitimate or simply a result of the Luvactin. The soundtrack is a fun mix of 80’s pop songs that work great in context.
But what makes dystopian fiction work is a clear system that it is examining, and “Spiderhead” misses that entirely. The movie wants to be dystopian, but it turns into an action thriller, which writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are clearly more comfortable with. So while it could look at issues like the justice system, or a world that medicates every emotion we have, or potentially shady pharmaceutical practices, it just devolves into a fairly predictable action movie.
Dystopian fiction should leave you feeling unsettled so that you have a desire to make changes where you can to avoid the future being predicted. “Spiderhead” wraps up everything with a neat bow, and in so doing, left me feeling disappointed. Neither are good ways to feel, but only one actually spurs change.
ALISE CHAFFINS is a Morgantown writer who loves movies and sharing her opinions. She reviews a movie from a streaming service every Saturday and one newly in theaters every Sunday. Find more at MacGuffin or Meaning on Substack.
