{"id":464857,"date":"2022-06-17T22:48:32","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T19:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/compelling-sci-fi-with-a-painfully-messy-third-act\/"},"modified":"2022-06-17T22:48:32","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T19:48:32","slug":"compelling-sci-fi-with-a-painfully-messy-third-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/compelling-sci-fi-with-a-painfully-messy-third-act\/","title":{"rendered":"#Compelling Sci-Fi With a Painfully Messy Third Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a419a1148132\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a419a1148132\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/compelling-sci-fi-with-a-painfully-messy-third-act\/#%E2%80%9CCompelling_Sci-Fi_With_a_Painfully_Messy_Third_Act%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Compelling Sci-Fi With a Painfully Messy Third Act&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CCompelling_Sci-Fi_With_a_Painfully_Messy_Third_Act%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Compelling Sci-Fi With a Painfully Messy Third Act&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<pre><code>     &lt;span class=\"mx-1\"&gt;In Netflix\u2019s \u2018Spiderhead,\u201d Joseph Kosinski would have been better off sticking to the source material.&lt;\/span&gt;\n&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;div id=\"\"&gt;\n\n\n\n                &lt;figure class=\"sf-entry-featured-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> \"&gt;\n            &lt;img width=\"800\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/spiderhead-review-netflix-movie.jpeg\" class=\"articlethumb wp-post-image\" alt=\"Spiderhead Review Netflix Movie\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/spiderhead-review-netflix-movie.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/spiderhead-review-netflix-movie-768x480.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/&gt;                                    &lt;p&gt;\n                    &lt;span class=\"sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline\"&gt;Netflix&lt;\/span&gt;\n\n                        &lt;\/figure&gt;\n\n    &lt;!-- START BYLINE --&gt;\n    &lt;div class=\"row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray\"&gt;\n        By\u00a0Aurora Amidon\u00a0\u00b7 Published on June 17th, 2022 \n        &lt;\/div&gt;\n    &lt;!-- END BYLINE --&gt;\n\n    &lt;span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"&gt;If you\u2019re looking to walk a shaky ethical tightrope for <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roximately an hour and fifty minutes, &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;i&gt;Spiderhead &lt;\/i&gt;&lt;\/strong&gt;&lt;span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"&gt;is the film for you. Directed by &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"&gt;Top Gun: &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;i&gt;Maverick\u2019s&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"&gt;\u00a0&lt;strong&gt;Joseph Kosinski&lt;\/strong&gt; and based on George Saunders\u2019 2010 &lt;\/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"&gt;New Yorker&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"&gt; short story \u201c&lt;a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2010\/12\/20\/escape-from-spiderhead\"&gt;Escape from Spiderhead&lt;\/a&gt;,\u201d the film is set in a futuristic prison facility called Spiderhead that offers its inmates an unprecedented amount of freedom. But at what cost?&lt;\/span&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conceived by scientist Steve Abnesti (<strong>Chris<\/strong> <strong>Hemsworth<\/strong>), Spiderhead exists for one sole purpose: to test innovative experimental drugs on prisoners. The drugs in question fabricate a wide array of emotional states in their subjects: laughter, honesty, love \u2013 you name it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, experimental drug tests are bound to come with considerable caveats. In this case, Steve isn\u2019t exclusively concerned with eliciting \u201cgood\u201d emotions; he wants to extract the bad ones, too. And does so using Darkenfloxx: a drug that makes you sick, angry, and suicidal all at once.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understandably unsettled by Steve\u2019s blas\u00e9 use of the potentially killer drug, inmate Jeff (<strong>Miles<\/strong> <strong>Teller<\/strong>) starts digging into the powers-that-be behind Spiderhead. Sure enough, he realizes that not everything is as peachy as the higher-ups want you to think it is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What follows is a high-concept, high-stakes action film that traverses a tense, compelling thread. For roughly the first half, Kosinski skillfully draws out the story\u2019s tension for as long as possible by dropping hints of some evil master plan at perfectly-timed intervals. He also ups the personal survival stakes by crafting a captivating and believable relationship between Jeff and fellow inmate Lizzy (<strong>Jurnee<\/strong> <strong>Smollett<\/strong>), whose chemistry is palpable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But sadly, despite its carefully constructed beginning and middle, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spiderhead<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> falls apart in the third act, which, without giving too much away, includes an ill-fitted and poorly-explained twist ending. This is particularly frustrating because Saunders\u2019 short story is straightforward, puts all of its cards on the table within the first few pages, and has the confidence to believe that its conceit and storytelling will be enough for its audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is all to say that Kosinski didn\u2019t have to add too much to the source material to make a compelling film. Indeed, not only does <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spiderhead<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have a fascinating premise, but it also has complex characters who are effortlessly fun to watch and do a lot of legwork on their own. Jeff is a refreshingly unconventional protagonist, played by Teller as tense, reserved, restrained, and introspective (though sometimes his inaction verges on boring to watch). Steve, too, isn\u2019t your run-of-the-mill villain: Hemsworth plays him, in a career highlight, with a nagging edge of hard-to-watch, coked-out tech-bro desperation. More than anything else, Steve needs to be liked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But to his detriment, Kosinski refuses to allow his film to ride on great performances and even greater source material. Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who are typically known for collaborating on crisp, concise scripts like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deadpool<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zombieland<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, throw far too much information into <i>Spiderhead\u2019s<\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0screenplay, like various tongue-twister drug names and inconsequential character backstories. Not only that, but they also don\u2019t do a great job at explaining many of their arbitrary threads.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it isn\u2019t just the over-stuffing of the script that\u2019s a problem in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spiderhead<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Although the film doesn\u2019t stray too far from its source material until the third act on a storytelling level, the production design and camerawork throughout hint at the bombastic, nonsensical, and overwrought ending. For example, the Spiderhead facility inexplicably looks like something designed by a ritzy contemporary architect for eight billion dollars. And is all but missing a couple of helicopter landing pads. While this is clearly an attempt to evoke a feeling of dystopian futurism, the astonishing extravagance doesn\u2019t make much sense in the context of the plot. Ultimately, it only subtracts from the story\u2019s central ethical contemplations and makes it feel more like a high-budget action movie than a thought-provoking meditation on life, death, and human rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The same thing applies to the film\u2019s cinematography, consisting of a strange juxtaposition between simple, subdued interior shots that highlight the power struggle between Jeff and Steve and sweeping wide shots of jets zooming over the glistening coastline. Like the production design, the camerawork\u2019s grandeur confuses the plot\u2019s philosophical nature and tonally makes <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spiderhead<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> feel more like an action flick than anything else.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar tonal oddities emerge during flashback scenes, where we learn why Jeff is in prison. Years prior, he got behind the wheel while drunk and got in a crash that killed his best friend. It should be an emotional scene that explains Jeff\u2019s feelings of guilt. As well as the feeling that he deserves his treatment in Spiderhead. It\u2019s all undercut by frantic editing and a bizarre vintage lens filter. What Kosinski was attempting to achieve with these stylistic choices, only he knows. But the choices are far too distracting to evoke any extra empathy for Jeff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes down to it, adapting a George Saunders story was always going to be a tricky balancing act due to the interiority and weighty philosophy inherent in his prose. Sadly, Kosinski\u2019s attempts to add excitement to Saunders\u2019 work end up over-crowding the script and confusing the tone. Perhaps it is possible to create an adaptation of \u201cEscape from Spiderhead\u201d that is both engaging and thought-provoking. But this isn\u2019t it.<\/span><\/p>\n<pre><code>    Related Topics: Netflix\n    &lt;!-- AUTHOR BOX --&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<div class=\"gray-bg p-4 border small mb-5\">\n<div class=\"row align-items-center text-md-center\">\n<div class=\"col-md-2\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/aurora.jpg\" class=\"circle img-fluid\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-md\">\n            Aurora Amidon spends her days running the Great Expectations column and trying to convince people that Hostel II is one of the best <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">movies<\/a> of all time. Read her mostly embarrassing tweets here: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aurora_amidon\">@aurora_amidon<\/a>.        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<pre><code>    &lt;!-- START RECOMMENDED READING 1 --&gt;\n                                &lt;section class=\"recommended py-5\"&gt;\n            &lt;h3&gt;Recommended Reading&lt;\/h3&gt;\n\n\n        &lt;\/section&gt;\n            &lt;!-- END RECOMMENDED READING --&gt;\n\n\n\n\n&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/spiderhead-review\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=spiderhead-review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Compelling Sci-Fi With a Painfully Messy Third Act&#8221; &lt;span class=&#8221;mx-1&#8243;&gt;In Netflix\u2019s \u2018Spiderhead,\u201d Joseph Kosinski would have been better off sticking to the source material.&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/p&gt;&lt;div id=&#8221;&#8221;&gt; &lt;figure class=&#8221;sf-entry-featured-media &#8220;&gt; &lt;img width=&#8221;800&#8243; height=&#8221;500&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/spiderhead-review-netflix-movie.jpeg&#8221; class=&#8221;articlethumb wp-post-image&#8221; alt=&#8221;Spiderhead Review Netflix Movie&#8221; srcset=&#8221;https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/spiderhead-review-netflix-movie.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/spiderhead-review-netflix-movie-768&#215;480.jpeg 768w&#8221; sizes=&#8221;(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px&#8221;\/&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;span class=&#8221;sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline&#8221;&gt;Netflix&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/figure&gt; &lt;!&#8211; START BYLINE&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":464858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/spiderhead-review-netflix-movie.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-464857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}