Cobweb, 2023.
Directed by Samuel Bodin.
Starring Woody Norman, Lizzy Caplan, Antony Starr, Cleopatra Coleman, Anton Kottas, Luke Busey, Jay Rincon, Ellen Dubin, Jesse Vilinsky, Aleksander Asparuhov, James Robinson, Jivko Mihaylov, and Steffanie Sampson.
SYNOPSIS:
Horror strikes when an eight-year-old boy named Peter tries to investigate the mysterious knocking noises that are coming from inside the walls of his house and a dark secret that his sinister parents kept hidden from him.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Cobweb wouldn’t exist.
Coming from director Samuel Bodin (who appears only to have shorts and television episodes to his name) and screenwriter Chris Thomas Devlin, Cobweb feels like those filmmakers accepted a challenge to cram as many tired horror tropes as they can into a movie. Worse, it’s a film with the bare bones of a story, seemingly stripped of a first act that would properly set up these characters or ground the nonstop loud noises into something worth engaging. Many of the elements introduced are intended to pay off in some way during the finale, but everything is so sloppily handled that none of it registers as compelling. Spooky sounds and supposedly scary images are meaningless and free of tension if no reason has been given to care about any of them.
What makes this frustrating is that Samuel Bodin knows how to craft sequences that would be suspenseful and potentially frightening if the narrative was up to par. Instead, he is forced to have the true villain here spout exposition during the film’s climax and final battle. One can’t help but laugh, shrugging everything off and wondering how the proceedings went this far off the rails. There is a directorial touch here, including skillful shot framing, lingering images, and mindful use of space that is wasted since nothing about the script or story feels complete. What little story is here is solely about twists and tricking the audience through illogical and cheap means.
The other huge wasted component is the small ensemble, led by young Woody Norman (who impressed majorly acting alongside Joaquin Phoenix in 2021’s C’mon C’mon) as Peter, an introverted outcast who often finds himself bullied at school in a phony and forced fashion. His new substitute teacher Miss Devine (Cleopatra Coleman), is told by her superiors to stop worrying and not to interfere or approach the boy’s parents.
One night, Peter randomly starts hearing the voice of a young girl (voiced and played by Ellen Dubin, Jesse Vilinsky, and Aleksander Asparuhov in different forms) coming from beyond the wall of his bedroom. Whether it’s a real person’s voice or a ghost is a mystery, at least until the film gives away that aspect early on. Without spoiling too much, there is a neighborhood legend about this girl, which has caused Peter’s parents (played by Antony Starr and Lizzy Caplan) to become overprotective and strange (the former gives a nuanced, alarming turn, whereas the latter overplays every scene). There is something untrustworthy about them from the get-go.
It’s nice to see Woody Norman get some work in between serious projects. That and the mildly competent craftsmanship on display certainly renders Cobweb watchable, but it’s also a movie where one can’t suspend disbelief or ignore the severe shortcomings in storytelling and characterization. There is practically no purpose to any of the attempted scares. If nothing else, it would be nice to see quite a few people involved with Cobweb involved in a horror project with more substance, and at a base level, subpar writing worth investing in.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
