Written and directed by Sébastien Vanicek, co-written by Florent Bernard, Kaleb is about to turn 30 and has never been lonelier. He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. Starring: Théo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, Jérôme Niel, Lisa Nyarko and Finnegan Oldfield.
If you’re a person with a fear or dislike of spiders then Infested will not be an easy watch. While that’s likely seen as a given, it isn’t always the case, filmmakers are often led astray by effects or unnecessary design. Keeping things, relatively, simple is the key to why this film works, the spiders may grow and intensely multiply but they never look fake, and that’s exactly why Sébastien Vanicek does a fantastic job of making your skin crawl.
Things start out on a point that’s very human, misunderstanding and underestimating the damage that such a small creature can do. As well as taking an animal into an environment where it so deeply does not belong, leading to absolute chaos. Vanicek does a great job of alluding to all of that strongly right off the bat, creating a great tension and foreboding. The direction sets out to make you uncomfortable and very much succeeds because it feeds into the unpredictability of spiders, the skittish and sporadic way that they move.
It’s an interesting argument of whether or not you can call it a jump scare when you know it’s coming, but these spiders will definitely make you jump. Vanicek also chooses not to go very far with the violent side of things, those moments are there but a lot happens off screen. Instead, he focuses on creating the fear and anticipation which works really well. The only element letting it down is the cinematography, it feels flat and slightly dull, it doesn’t have the edge to match Infested’satmosphere.
Vanicek and Florent Bernard also attempt to bring social issues into the mix, with police brutality, classism, racism and the disdain for poverty. It does fit, especially in how things play out in the latter moments but it can also feel unnecessary. Although the police involvement and the escalation of the film does at times remind of 2007’s horror icon Rec. The choice to end the film on an emotional note rather than a triumphant one, is also not quite strong enough.
However, there is a decent amount of emotion to be found in the film, they take the time to explore the different relationships between these characters. They are also genuinely interesting to watch, especially Kaleb (Théo Christine) who has an unusual mix of different qualities. He has the classic bravado and quick to anger but he’s also surprisingly compassionate and sensitive, with a hint of naivety.
Sofia Lesaffre, Jérôme Niel, Lisa Nyarko and Finnegan Oldfield all then add to that, while Christine takes the lead, it always feels like it’s about the ensemble, not just Kaleb. Making you care about the core group is an absolute must for a film like this and this cast undoubtedly achieves that. They have a good amount of conflict but you can also feel the friendships that lie beneath that.
Infested will make your skin crawl and if you see a spider after having recently watched it, you probably won’t be able to sleep. It’s packed with tension, it hits that big note of fear right on the head and will have you on the edge of your seat because these unrelenting arachnids can appear at any given moment. It has its weaknesses but it’s a strong piece of horror, it never gets lost among the effects, it doesn’t try to overexpand its story and it creates characters to genuinely care whether or not they fall prey to their eight-legged adversaries.