I thought this movie was quite good, especially for a Netflix original, though I do agree the ending fell a bit flat.

The writing is strong. It's a great example of show, not tell, as there was very little exposition in this unfamiliar world and yet we could easily understand what was going on.

All the actors did an incredible job of having to show a wide range of extreme emotions, sometimes having to switch between them quite quickly. Smollett is always a dream to watch, please put her in everything. Even Hemsworth, who is usually just meh to me did a fantastic job in this. I'm excited to see him in more films that have this quality of direction and writing.

The plot does a good job of exploring the intersections of late stage capitalism meets carceral culture. The themes of redemption, love and forgiveness through the narrative without needing to hammer down on these too much. Though I do enjoy a deep, heady, academic exploration of these topics, I also like when a story can let the morals come through via the emotional impact of the narrative, and this movie does that well, allowing us to meet the prisoners as people first, seeing their humanity before we learn of their mistakes, and feel appalled at how they are experimented on.

The twists were well delivered and the pacing was perfect for me, keeping me glued to the story while giving the characters space to do emotional development in the quiet moments.

All in all I had a great time. More of this please!

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/spiderhead-spoiler-free-review

"Spiderhead contains a fascinating high-concept sci-fi premise, but even with an extraordinary cast, it falls short of its narrative potential.

Chris Hemsworth proves again that he's one of the most underrated actors working today, while Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett share excellent chemistry. Technically, Joseph Kosinski and his team are able to generate an uneasy atmosphere in a single location without forgetting some visually impressive shot selection.

Nevertheless, the story loses energy and focus during the second act, leaving dozens of creative, genuinely captivating paths unexplored or underdeveloped, ultimately choosing the safest, most generic alternative. Revelations and twists are somewhat inconsistent but undeniably impactful.

I still highly recommend it. I'm very curious about the general audience's reaction."

Rating: B-

**Spiderhead could have been so much more but settled for bland.**

Spiderhead’s concept presented compelling possibilities but fell very short of its potential. The movie focuses on pharmaceuticals that create love, fear, and other emotions in its prison-mandated test subjects. I expected the plot to center on characters grappling with whether they actually love their new boyfriend/girlfriend, causing them to doubt every decision since they entered the program — a psychological angle. Instead, Spiderhead is a basic rich guy doing something shady at the expense of others movie. With a great cast and an incredible director, I wanted this movie to be so much more. Ultimately, Spiderhead is another forgettable straight-to-streaming movie that wasted its exciting premise and talent.

The concept is fascinating enough, but the story is so slow and boring that it's hard to follow. Seems like there's a message buried somewhere in there, but it's easy to fall asleep before Evil Corporations oh my god is properly repackaged and regurgitated at whatever climax they think they wrote into the script somewhere. Snore.

Can't fault the acting or the production values.
This was filmed in Australia, on an island in Queensland.

The premise should be more interesting than the way this film presents it. Poor directing? Perhaps. As I said, the acting is good and believable.
A couple of plot holes that I couldn't wrap my head around.

The film was based on a short story, which I'm told is a very good story. Clearly the movie got something very wrong.

A few days after I watched it, and the movie is unmemorable.