I’ve always had a soft spot for horror movies that present themselves as dark twisted versions of fairy tales, and Samuel Bodin’s “Cobweb” is one of the highlights of the sub-genre. “Cobweb” is a dark and twisted tale of family that watches almost like and Edward Gorey folktale that’s suddenly sprung to life. It’s shocking that Lionsgate hasn’t promoted this movie at all, since as we’re entering in to the Halloween season gradually, “Cobweb” is the perfect dose of autumnal tinted horror. Director Samuel Bodin manages to concoct a mystery horror film that is not just creepy, but suspenseful and twisted all at the same time.
Eight-year-old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tap, tap from inside his bedroom wall – a tapping that his parents insist is all in his imagination. As Peter’s fear intensifies, he believes that his parents (Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr) could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trust. And for a child, what could be more frightening than that?
The idea of Peter being taunted by the tapping and banging on his walls becomes so much more dread filled, especially as the narrative unfurls revealing his parents to be immensely unhinged. Anthony Starr and Lizzy Caplan are dynamite as a somewhat sinister pair of parents struggling to figure out what to do when Peter begins experiencing night terrors. They handle it about as well as you’d expect from a movie of this ilk, slowly devolving in to paranoid, aggressive individuals that only arouse more curiosity from young Peter. Forced to deal with this Conservative household, Peter is also suffering from bullies on his grade school.
That somewhat is subdued with the arrival his new teacher Miss Devine, who offers an escape from his pain. There is a lot of questions about whether or not Peter is just going insane, or whether or not his parents ate tormenting him within the darkness. Director Bodin sets up a lot of plot elements that feel like red herrings but really contribute to the explosive finale. A lot of “Cobweb” relies on these twisted puzzle pieces slowly but surely crashing together, and once they fit right in, the film explodes in to such a horrifying folktale that feels like the stuff of campfires. Deep down though, like most fairytales, “Cobweb” is a strong commentary.
Director Bodin’s film is very much about dysfunctional family, growing up in a dysfunctional household, and questioning whether we can ever really leave behind the trauma and problems that are thrust upon us as children. No matter how we evolve our traumas always stay with us. Nevertheless, “Cobweb” is a fantastic genre gem, and one I hope attracts a larger audience. This might end up being a word of mouth horror movie when all is said and done. It’s surely one of my favorite horror movies of 2023.
Exclusively in Theaters on July 21st.