Spiderhead - Interesting Idea, Sadly Lacking in Execution Making This a So So Thriller

When this movie was released yesterday on Netflix, I was a bit doubtful whether to watch it first or wait the following day since there was also a new movie released in the cinema that intrigued me. But then I decided to give this a go as I was in the mood to watch something from the comfort of my home. OK, let's get right at it then.

Brief Story Line

In a remote island, Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth - Extraction, 12 Strong etc) was conducting a new kind of drug research where he would test them on subjects who happened to be prisoners of the state. He was aided by his assistant Adam (Sam Delich). These prisoners agreed on this arrangement as opposed of serving normal jail time while also reducing their sentence. 

One of the test subjects was Jeff (Miles Teller - Top Gun: Maverick, The Divergent movies etc) who seemed to be Steve's favorite. He was quite close to another inmate named Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett - Birds of Prey, Lovecraft Country TV series etc). There were also other subjects such as Heather (Tess Haubrich - Bleeding Steel, Wolf Creek TV series etc), Emma (Bebe Bettencourt), Rogan (former wrestler Nathan Jones) and few others.

As things progressed, Jeff who had been tested a while began to suspect something was off. So what was actually happening? You can find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

This movie started off with a bit of slow build up where I felt it was heading nowhere, especially in the early part. The characters were introduced in a brief way and we were shown gradually on what the testing was and how it was done. The characters were actually quite interesting, especially Jeff who intrigued me and obviously Abnesti. I think both Miles Teller and Chris Hemsworth were suitable in these roles. I honestly felt they were the real stars of the film as their performance were pretty convincing.

As the story continued, I finally could see where it was headed and became more interested. However, it was not that thrilling and did not totally satisfy my waiting. In fact the movie felt a bit bland even till the end, although that ending was pretty good. I thought there was no real excitement throughout the whole movie which had duration of 107 minutes, except for one or two scenes that surprised us a bit. Oh there were few adult scenes in here as well which explained the mature rating. 

I did not see what the movie was based on during the opening/closing credits. Either I was not concentrating enough or because of the fonts used were too difficult to read. Anyway upon reading on the internet, I found out it was based on short story Escape from Spiderhead written by George Saunders. It was directed by Joseph Kosinsky who also directed Top Gun: Maverick. So this would mark his second collaboration with Miles Teller.

Overall to me this was a so so thriller movie. It has an interesting idea and the cast performed their roles nicely. It's just too bad the execution was not that brilliant making me feeling less satisfied. The film also felt a bit too long to me personally. So if you are looking for an amazing thriller movie, then this might not be for you. But if your interest was looking at the stars, then I think you would not be too disappointed. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars