David Cronenberg's ruthlessly unsentimental adaptation of Patrick McGrath's 1990 novel duplicates the book's insular point of view, entangling viewers in the skewed perceptions of Dennis "Spider" Cleg (Ralph Fiennes), whose nickname alludes to the obsessive, web-like constructions he painstakingly weaves from bits of discarded string. Newly released from a mental hospital, Spider moves into a halfway house in London's East End, which the starchy Mrs. Wilkinson (Lynn Redgrave) runs like a particularly austere boarding school. Trembling and in thrall to a past he relives obsessively, Spider shrouds himself in layers of mucky clothing and seems a twitch away from pickin...
Released:
2002
Rated:
R
Length:
98 mins