Spider
Metascore
83 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 35 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
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  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    100
    Arguably the subtlest, most carefully textured film of Cronenberg's career.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    100
    In this small and very smart film, Cronenberg does several things at once and makes them all look effortless, capturing various shadings of consciousness and versions of reality.
  3. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    100
    Spider lasts in the mind and it's built to last -- this is a movie that invites and repays repeated viewings.
  4. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    91
    Exciting spectacle of a master director reining in his abilities to create a work that is etched in acid, burnished in smoke.
  5. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    90
    Deliciously wicked, strangely poetic portrait (adapted by Patrick McGrath from his own novel) of a schizophrenic man at once tyrannized and elevated by oedipal terrors.
  6. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Bill Gallo
    90
    It takes an especially fine-tuned director and an inventive actor to cut as close to the bone as Spider does.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    90
    In an instance of director, stars and material melding flawlessly, Spider is a brilliantly realized depiction of a mentally ill individual.
  8. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    90
    The superbly acted Spider is muted in comparison: it’s a quiet nightmare, painted in hospital greens and rust browns.
  9. Variety
    Reviewed by: David Rooney
    90
    This slow but brilliantly sustained journey into madness is fronted by a remarkable performance from Ralph Fiennes and superb backup from Miranda Richardson in a triple role.
  10. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    90
    The most elegantly crafted and confidently directed of all his (Cronenberg's) films, it's a calm, chilling portrait of a blighted soul and, just as calmly but quite stunningly, an evocation of the thought processes behind the blight.
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  11. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    90
    His story is sad, compelling and morbidly, tragically watchable.
  12. The New Republic
    Reviewed by: Stanley Kauffmann
    90
    Spider is not a pulse-quickening experience, but Fiennes's art makes it engrossing.
  13. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    90
    I was floored by Cronenberg's mastery of the material. Fiennes gives one of his finest performances; Miranda Richardson, playing at least three characters in the protagonist's twisted vision, is no less impressive.
  14. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    88
    What catches us in Spider's web -- besides the indelible performances of Fiennes and Richardson -- is the director's sympathy with this freak man-child who struggles to order his confused memories into a kind of truth.
  15. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    A shocker for devotees of stylish angst and psychological torment. You'll have to watch it with patience and great attention, but it richly rewards that patience.
  16. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    88
    It's Cronenberg's finest film, it's star Ralph Fiennes's riskiest role, it's a tour de force for actress Miranda Richardson.
  17. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    88
    This is a rare adaptation where the script (by McGrath himself) heads straight for the novel's horrible essence, reproducing it non-verbally and in an even more concentrated form.
  18. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    83
    Cronenberg's most disciplined exploration yet of that shadowy realm: the world refracted through the prism of a schizophrenic mind.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 42 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
  1. williamw
    10
    The most nerve-racking, chillingly precise film about mental illness ever made. In my humble opinion, the director's magnus opus.
  2. Methusalah
    10
    This movie was visually astounding. It had more eye catching, amazingly framed scenes than any previous Cronenberg movie. A surreal trek through a day in the life of a mentally ill individual.… Full Review »
  3. MathewB.
    10
    A masterpiece of perception of reality vs. reality
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