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Joseph Kosinski's Spiderhead was released on Netflix on June 17, 2022. The offbeat, cyberpunk film features Chris Hemsworth in the role of an evil genius and Miles Teller as Jeff, the subject of his unethical drug experimentations.
The script was adapted from a 2010 New Yorker article by George Saunders titled Escape from Spiderhead.
The science fiction film touches upon various relevant issues such as trauma, ethics, consent and free will. It portrays a dystopian scenario not too unfamiliar in Hollywood movies and literature. Most recently, Marvel's Moon Knight touched upon a similar debate around free will.
Spiderhead film summary: Lies, deceit and human experimentation
Spiderhead showcases all that's been banned since the Second World War in an offbeat manner. Under the guise of consensual trials and the freedom to eat and dress the way they want, the inmates of the Spiderhead facility are lured into devious experimentations by Hemsworth's Steve Abnesti.
Each inmate has a futuristic device called MobiPack surgically attached to their body, which contains colorful vials of creatively named chemicals that alter their behavior and emotions.
The film began with an example of the trials performed using these chemicals. The first scene showed the subject laughing uncontrollably. He was told jokes and facts about genocide under the effect of a drug called Laffodil.
Other trials involved the use of drugs that induced physical and emotional intimacy, phobic avoidance of something as standard as a stapler or the worst experience a person could have times ten.
Mr. Abnesti got all his subjects to participate in these ludicrous and dastardly trials by cajoling and manipulating them to believe it was for the greater good. Unfortunately, the sociopathic genius took it too far, and his actions led to the death of one of the inmates.
This triggered a series of events led by Jeff (Teller) that resulted in the unraveling of Abnesti's real intentions and his eventual death.
After end-of-the-world action dramas, Hollywood's next obsession is thought control and free will
Viewers can tell that something's not right in Spiderhead right off the bat. Behind the fast-talking, eyebrow-wiggling and over-the-top optimistic mannerisms of Mr. Abnesti is a devious individual. His subjects behind the one-way mirror may not be aware of that, but his squeaky clean metal-framed glasses help you see right through him.
There have been too many stories about the dystopian possibility of totalitarianism, thought control, confiscation of free will, ignorance of human agency and so on. Fans of the dystopian genre must have been quick to identify these themes and enjoy the offbeat perspective presented by Kosinski's sci-fi film.
The illusion of choice and freedom created by Hemsworth's character in the film broke down when Jeff learned the truth about the trials at Spiderhead. The various drugs being tested were just subsidiary experiments of the main drug O-B-D-X or Obediex. Abnesti wanted to create the possibility of absolute obedience in those who were administered the drug.
The idea of using drugs for psychological torture and mind control is not too foreign, as history buffs and Stranger Things fans who know about Project MKUltra will tell you.
Past crimes, trauma and self-forgiveness: Other thematic issues in Spiderhead
All inmates in the Spiderhead prison-cum-research facility had committed some crime and were a part of Steve Abnesti's drug trials in lieu of their respective jail terms.
Jeff's past crime was revealed through flashbacks where he got his friend and girlfriend killed in a drunk driving accident. Lizzy's crime was forced out of her by Steve.
Both were shown remedying pain with pain. They believed they deserved the painful treatment and drug trials because of the horrible things they had done. Steve was also often seen justifying his inhumane trials, particularly the administration of Darkenfloxx, because they were not innocent people.
This raised the question of whether people should be judged based on their worst days and mistakes. Are they not capable of change and betterment? Marvel's Moon Knight also presented this issue in its own way.
Steve also had his own tragic past, which possibly led him to design such sociopathic experiments to remedy his own pain.
With all these traumatic pasts at the root of all the madness, Spiderhead shed light on the importance of self-forgiveness and dealing with trauma appropriately. The final scene of the movie shows Jeff talking about forgiving oneself to move on in life.
Don't forget to watch Spiderhead, which is now streaming on Netflix.
