2022 is already a spectacular year for science fiction fans. Severance (Ben Stiller) and Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniels) have already blown minds and melted hearts. Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg) is poised to shock the Cannes Film Festival, and now Spiderhead has crept into the conversation. Spiderhead comes courtesy of Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy). Kosinski made a name early for himself with his science fiction efforts like Tron: Legacy and Oblivion, but he’s been patiently awaiting the release of the long-delayed Top Gun: Maverick. Top Gun: Maverick screened at the Cannes Film Festival to a standing ovation. Before the picture, the film’s star, Tom Cruise, was awarded an honorary/surprise Palme d’Or–Cannes' highest honor.
Netflix’s newest science fiction picture isn’t even its first sci-fi film this year; The Adam Project starring Ryan Renolds (Deadpool), Mark Ruffalo (Avengers: Endgame), and Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy) released in March to a strong reception. The family-friendly action film with a heart hearkening back to Spielberg sci-fi classics, like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or E.T. The Extraterrestrial. Spiderhead seems less kid-friendly. For everything we know about Spiderhead including cast, release date, and story, check out the breakdown below.
Is There a Trailer for Spiderhead?
The trailer, which was released on May 17, evokes a 70s sci-fi feel, possibly aided by Minnie Riperton’s, “Les Fleurs.” The themes seem to mostly play around with the Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park) classic line, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they never stopped to think if they should.”
What is Spiderhead About?
Spiderhead follows the subjects of scientific experimentation in the service of improving the nature of humanity. Based on a short story by George Saunders titled, Escape From Spiderhead, the film’s official description alongside the trailer reads:
Two inmates form a connection while grappling with their pasts in a state-of-the-art penitentiary run by a brilliant visionary who experiments on his subjects with mind-altering drugs.
The story elements are evocative of Claire Denis’ High Life, which saw prisoners assembled as make-shift spacers sent on one-way tickets with a final chance to serve science and humanity. Of course, science unconstrained by ethics predictably explodes into a mess of madness. Spiderhead is due to drop a few weeks after Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick. Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Deadpool, Zombieland), Spiderhead looks deadly serious despite the team’s typical comedic spark. No strangers to Netflix, Reese, and Wernick also wrote the Ryan Reynolds and Michael Bay (Transformers) collaboration, 6 Underground.
Who’s Who in Spiderhead?
Chris Hemsworth (Thor) plays the lead scientist in charge of the experiments, Steve Abnesti. Abnesti administers the experimental drugs to inmates under controlled circumstances with the hope of altering the human condition. The trailer shows him cool and collected as he manipulates his captive test subjects’ psychological and emotional states at will in his secret facility, dubbed Spiderhead. Netflix and Hemsworth are teaming up again for Extraction 2, which wrapped production and is due out sometime next year. Hemsworth also has Thor: Love and Thunder rolling over the horizon. The highly anticipated Marvel sequel reunited Hemsworth and director Taika Watiti (Thor: Ragnarok) and is slated for a theatrical run starting on July 8.
Miles Teller (Whiplash) returns to film this year for the first time since Thank You For Your Service and Only the Brave in 2017—which was also directed by Joseph Kosinski. Teller plays Jeff, a principal participant in Spiderhead's experimental procedures. Jeff develops a closeness with both Abnesti and another inmate named Lizzy throughout his stay at the Spiderhead facility. While Teller hasn’t led a film in a few years, he stayed active appearing in Nicolas Winding Refn’s (Drive) latest miniseries Too Old to Die Young. He also starred in The Offer–a dramatized depiction of the making of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather–and a Taylor Swift music video. Teller teams up with Kosinski two times this year, both in Spiderhead and in Top Gun: Maverick.
Lizzy is played by Jurnee Smollett (Lovecraft Country). Lizzy is another inmate tortured by the life-altering experiments of Steve Abnesti. With a laundry list of credits and appearances, 2020 was a breakthrough year for Smollett. She appeared in Birds of Prey as Dinah Lance–aka Black Canary–with such vigor that she landed a spin-off project of her own. She electrified viewers in HBO’s adaption of Lovecraft Country as Letitia Lewis, and she appeared in an episode of Jordan Peele’s (Get Out, Us) reboot of The Twilight Zone.
Nathan Jones (Mad Max: Fury Road), Tess Haubrich (Alien: Covenant), Charles Parnell (Top Gun: Maverick), and BeBe Bettencourt (The Dry) are a few of the inmates and administrators rounding out the cast of this eerie thriller.
How Can You Watch Spiderhead?
Spiderhead will be released exclusively on Netflix on June 17. Despite previous Netflix releases–including The Irishman and Don’t Look Up–receiving a limited theatrical release ahead of or alongside their streaming debut, Spiderhead won’t be gracing the silver screen. Viewers hoping to watch HD–not compress 4KUHD, regular 720p, or 1080p HD–can subscribe for $15.49 per month. Netflix suggested a cheaper, ads included, subscription tier is on its way, but for $9.99, subscribers gain access to Netflix’s streaming library in standard definition.
Netflix still boasts the largest audience of subscribers, minting them the King of Streaming. Concern around constant price hikes and a reversal on their tune in regards to password sharing across households alongside the exceeding fragmentation of the market threatens the King’s crown. Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Hulu, and Paramount+ have emerged as legitimate competitors to the reigning monarch thanks in part to original programming, theatrical releases available for streaming considerably sooner, and robust libraries of old favorites owned by the parent company of the platform.
For more science fiction stories streaming on Netflix, check out Collider’s picks for the Best Fantasy and Sci-Fi Shows on the platform. Or check out Collider’s collection of the Best Sci-Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now, published just before May 2022. Enjoy these Nine Underrated Sci-Fi Movies From the Past Decade. Horror fans might also enjoy browsing the Best Science Fiction Horror Movies of the 1980s if there’s catching up to do.
Don’t miss Kosinski and Teller together again in Top Gun: Maverick on May 27, and catch their first sci-fi collaboration, Spiderhead, streaming on Netflix starting on June 17.