Sting, 2024.
Directed by Kiah Roache-Turner.
Starring Ryan Corr, Alyla Browne, Penelope Mitchell, Robyn Nevin, Noni Hazelhurst, Silvia Colloca, Danny Kim, and Jermaine Fowler.
SYNOPSIS:
After raising an unnervingly talented spider in secret, 12-year-old Charlotte must face the facts about her pet—and fight for her family’s survival—when the once-charming creature rapidly transforms into a giant, flesh-eating monster.
Most horror fans love a good creature feature. Since the genre began, we’ve seen countless larger-than-life monsters attack helpless victims as we oddly struggle with who to root for. From Piranha to Anaconda, it’s easy to see why we return to these types of movies often, and it’s what will lure most people into Sting, the new “Giant Spider vs Humans” release.
Sadly, Sting lacks the extra bite most people require from a creature feature, and it ends up being more of a tedious familial drama than an outright monster flick. For a movie so inspired by how they crafted the monster scenes in Alien or Jaws, you’d expect Sting to offer tension in the same vein as those films. But alas, we’re left with a run-of-the-mill horror film that forgets to be scary, relying on being scared of the idea and not the execution.
Charlotte (Alyla Browne) and her incredibly on-the-nose name deal with life under her new stepfather and in the worst-run apartment building you’ve ever seen. It’s the typical precocious step-up we’ve seen time and time before; the young girl rebels against her parents until it comes back to bite her in the butt. What comes back to bite her this go-around is a spider that’s quickly growing into a real menace. Initially kept as a new pet, Charlotte’s new arachnid terrorizes all those around her until it comes knocking for her family.
The stepfather and the apartment I mentioned? They seemingly get more focus in the first two acts than Charlotte does, as the film spends too much time introducing us to the apartment and its wacky neighbors rather than building reasons to care for Charlotte and her family – especially when the film begins to focus on Ethan (Ryan Corr), Charlotte’s stepfather, and his attempts to keep things afloat. The film doesn’t do enough of a job selling it as a two-hander story between Charlotte and Ethan, settling for having two stories fighting for the chance to be the A-storyline.
As Ethan makes fixes around the apartment, works on his comics, and adjusts to life with his new wife (Penelope Mitchell), we’re left wondering what Charlotte is even doing in the story. You’re left cold to her when the film thrusts her as our protagonist in the final act. That’s no shade against Alyla Browne, who does the best with what she’s given, but the short runtime doesn’t give her enough.
The eccentric characters of the building are a strong point of the film, though. Even if most are there just to pad out the kill count, I’d be upset if I didn’t sing the praises of Robyn Nevin, Noni Hazlehurst, and Jermaine Fowler. The work Nevin and Hazlehurst put into Sting attempts to elevate the material, punching up the not-so-funny comedy that was penned. Speaking of comedy, though, Jermaine Fowler deserves all the praise for taking what is basically an elevated supporting role and making a case for him to be the star of the whole piece.
Fowler was hilarious in The Blackening, stole the show in Ricky Stanicky, and is one of the best parts of Sting. When the movie hits moments of buddy-cop comedy horror with Fowler’s Frank and Corr’s Ethan, that’s where you see the true strengths in the script and filmmaking.
With a few shifts in the narrative and lessening the intended importance of Charlotte’s character, you could’ve easily made it Frank & Ethan vs. Giant Spider could’ve easily put this to must-see indie horror levels. It could’ve joined the ranks of something like Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, but it feels more like a mid-00s Sci-Fi Channel original.
As mentioned, creature features are a staple in horror, and so is iconic creature design. While Sting does go for a generic spider as its main protagonist, you can’t help but crave something more than what we have. The production didn’t rely entirely on digital effects, but the filmmaking around WETA Workshop’s practical work felt counterintuitive. With the strobing lights and shaky camera work when focusing on the creature, it always feels like director Kiah Roache-Turner hides the work rather than highlights it.
Now, on the opposite end, the spider’s very Xenomorph-like lore and aesthetic was a brilliant choice. It could’ve come off derivative, and the final little tease goes that route, but it mostly feels like the Roache-Turner and team were having fun with the creature. It’s gooey and gross, which is perfect for a film like this; you want to be slightly grossed out, and this achieves that. There’s also some intriguing sound design that pumps up that sickening feeling around the creature.
The film does put too much hope that most of its viewers have some arachnophobia, as beyond giving it a terrifying look, it rarely feels terrifying. Up until the very end, most of the scares are off-screen or hidden in the shadows. The same goes for the actual kills, but one gnarly one near the end makes up for the lackluster kills. This could work if you’re more invested in your story and character, but a film like Sting needs to see the lack of tension and use that as a moment to increase its body count.
Spiders will always be terrifying, and Sting is a good reminder of why so many fear our eight-legged friends. Even with its faults, you can’t help but fall into its kooky web.
Sticking the landing is critical, leaving you with the right impression; those hoping for more than an average creature feature will be let down, but Sting carries itself to a solid ending even with its lower points early on.
If only the magic sprinkled in the last 15 minutes could’ve made its way throughout, we could’ve had a true horror spider classic.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
EJ Moreno