Cobweb (2023)
July 22, 2023 10:20 AM - Subscribe

Eight year old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tapping from inside his bedroom wall... one that his parents (Lizzy Caplan, Antony Starr) insist is all in his imagination. As Peter's fear intensifies, he believes that his parents could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trust.

Also starring Woody Norman, Cleopatra Coleman, Luke Busey.

Directed by Samuel Bodin. Written by Chris Thomas Devlin.

63% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now playing in theaters. JustWatch listing.
posted by DirtyOldTown (8 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
THIS FUCKING RULES.

My kid and I are in the habit of seeing more or less every horror film that gets a theatrical release. So sometimes we go in to see a movie like this one that didn't get much press, is from an unknown director, and has an unclear trailer. Usually, they're fine. A pleasant way to spend some time together on the weekend.

This was absolutely excellent. Four out of five stars. A real surprise. Tense and weird and great-looking.

Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr as parents who seem... off is brilliantly casting. Almost too easy. Terrific child star. Memorable images.

There are no kills for like the first hour of movie and it's still a nail-biter. Great use of sound. Unnerving little details. Memorable images. Quick, fluid pacing.

I really loved this.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:23 AM on July 22, 2023 [3 favorites]


Apparently this is from the creator of Marianne if anyone watched that show on Netflix.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:00 PM on July 22, 2023


(Cries) It's not showing in my area!
posted by miss-lapin at 2:11 PM on July 22, 2023


The reviews are mixed and plainly, a lot of people like it less than we did. But HOLY SHIT, we liked it a lot.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:01 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]


I read a negative review of this, but then you had me re-thinking.... until the Marianne comment. I bounced off the first episode of that show HARD.
posted by mrphancy at 5:47 PM on July 22, 2023


Not the writer from that though, just the director.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:20 AM on July 24, 2023


I was pretty excited for this as counter-programming to Barbenheimer, but I did not enjoy it. Utterly baffling they released this against two of the biggest movies of the year in July and not in, uh, October. The movie opens with a title card informing us that it's "ONE WEEK BEFORE HALLOWEEN." I wonder if I would have appreciated this more if I had walked into and out from it to a crisp Autumn day instead of the full heat of July.
posted by tomorrowromance at 12:54 PM on July 25, 2023


We just caught this as it's the featured movie in the return of my wife's favourite horror movie podcast, Dirty Little Horror, so we wanted to be on top of it before she listens.

A real mixed bag for us. Lizzie Caplan and Antony Starr are A-tier actors in our books, so we were assuming the stilted, offputting performances were heading toward a destination; we definitely didn't see the last third coming, and while the first half was a bit of a slog, once things dialled up, they dialled up hard and we were on board.

Varying expectations for horror plots at the best of times, but boy, there are better ways to deal with your monster child than the ol "pit cage secret door behind the clock so they live inside your walls" treatment, right? Right?

Was it said explicitly that Sarah Monstergirl was responsible for the missing kid down the street, and that was the body in the garden, and that flew past us, or do we just assume that?

On the whole, A+ would recommend, and for a punter like me, this wound up being preferable to Longlegs; that was all-vibes-no-story, whereas this did strike a vibes/story balance that didn't entirely satisfy me on either front, but did deliver the goods, more or less, with both.
posted by Shepherd at 4:15 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]


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