Very disappointed :(

Nice effects though.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

First of all, in order to fully appreciate Spider it requires more than a single viewing - at least 2 are necessary. Secondly,if you grew up in England, especially London, that would have helped, as many of the idioms spoken in this film, eg 'wicking' (as used by Yvonne Wilkinson - meaning 'annoying') were very much around in 1950s London. There are some other parochial phrases used which would be lost on most Americans. Curiously, looking at the subtitles for Spider a lot of the phrases have been wrongly interpreted, (probably compiled by Americans).Anyway, the first time I saw this, I didn't really get it either. At the same time I felt I hadn't given this film a proper chance, and when I did decide to revisit it I realized what a subtle, if strange and depressing movie it was. I've watched this several times since and on each occasion it became more fascinating, gradually dawning on me how much I'd missed in some of the more suggestive and important scenes. Eg, how many viewing this for the first time recognized that the actress playing Yvonne Wilkinson flashing her breast at young Spider, was not Miranda Richardson, who played Yvonne in all the subsequent scenes. There was a good reason for that of course. Also I realized why the imposing gasometer structure seen by Spider from his bedroom window seemed to terrify him. There are plenty of other examples. Once you notice what you missed first time around and more, you can appreciate this film so much better.But most viewers do not have the time or patience these days to allow a 'slow' film like Spider to develop, so naturally Spider will never see the light of day again for those with a short attention span. That's their loss though. You can make films about mental illness in a more entertaining way - eg. A Beautiful Mind. But in the end Spider digs that much deeper. Full credit to David Cronenberg for having the balls to make such an unconventional film, yet brilliant study of the schizophrenic mind. And needless to say Ralph Fiennes performance as the confused, mumbling Spider is extraordinary.

Dennis Clegg is in his thirties and lives in a halfway house for the mentally disturbed in London.Dennis, nicknamed "Spider" by his mother, had been institutionalised with acute schizophrenia for some 20 years.He has never truly recovered, and as he begins to remember his past, people around him vicariously experience his increasingly fragile grip on reality.....For a Cronenberg film, it's a very different path the director has taken, it's probably one of the most narratively straight forward films he has made during his illustrious career.You could view it as Cronenberg does a Kitchen Sink Drama, or the most depressing episode of Mr. Bean you could ever wish not to see. But the last comment would be totally unfair on Feinnes, because he puts in wonderful, almost muted performance as the titular character.The past is most definitely the most interesting part of the film, as the story centres on Dennis's dad, played wonderfully by Byrne. Fiennes may put in a wonderful performance, but Mr. Clegg is most certainly the most interesting, fleshed out character in the film, and sometimes it feel like Spider is only featured in the film so we can follow Mr. Cleggs arc feasibly.Mr. Clegg is sadly facing midlife crisis, slowly coming to the understanding that this is his life, and this is how it's going to be for a very long time, so he begins an extra marital affair with what appears to be a doppelganger of his wife, played brilliantly by Richardson.And this is where the film gets interesting as we begin to realise that What's affected spider is something that he saw from his bedroom window, something that all children dread to see, Their parents being amorous toward each other.This is where the film asks the question, Is Mr. Clegg having an affair, or are the couple simply spicing up their personal life, and the scene at the allotment is nothing more than a metaphor for saying goodbye to the old life.But obviously Spider's fragile mind id seeing it from the former perspective, and his mother is no longer the innocent angel he once saw her as, but as a totally different person, thanks to that few seconds when he saw her with his dad.It's very Freudian in it's nature, and it does take a lot of patience, but Cronenberg has made a wonderfully subtle film.

i caught this on telly, luckily i could record it,as it quite long and dull, i was intrigued, but not enough to watch it in one sitting, long expanses of nothing happening, which maybe true of most mentally ill people, but very boring to watch, the twist at the end, explains it all, but not enough to bother watching it.The acting is good, and Fiennes plays mad very well, and we've all seen people like this in town, muttering to themselves, spoiler alert, im not sure about the halfway house, as its supposed to be nowadays, but it looked very 1970's as health and safety would never allow a home like that,and building sites in the passed didn't have mesh fencing around them, i wouldn't recommend this film to anybody ,unless they liked film noir,reminded me of Swedish films on bbc 2, years ago,

An absolutely crushing bore, I held on to the bitter end, waiting and hoping for a twist or a revelation and was soundly disappointed. A film about a man newly arrived at a half-way house after being released from the asylum, Spider is a dreary portrait of a schizophrenic who mumbles, broods, smokes heavily and scribbles gibberish into a notebook, all the while going over tragic memories from his childhood-- including the murder of his beloved mother by his boozy, loutish father, and his own murder of his father's new wife by gas poisoning, while she lay passed out in a chair.All in all, Ralph Fiennes decent portrayal of a troubled mind was not near enough to keep this story afloat. Feeling very unlike the Cronenburg pictures I know and respect, Spider could have been a truly depressing film. Instead we are treated to a long, boring movie with a non-ending, and absolutely nothing positive to be gleaned from it's content.