''Spider'' is a 2007 Australian

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed by Nash Edgerton and written by

David Michôd David Michôd ( ;) is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for directing the critically acclaimed crime drama '' Animal Kingdom'' (2010) and dystopian drama '' The Rover'' (2014). He also co-wrote '' ...

and Nash Edgerton. The film had its world premiere in competition at the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. , the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

on 17 June 2007. After that the film competed at number of film festivals and was later released theatrically together with Edgerton's feature-film '' The Square''.

Plot

A couple, Jack and Jill, are driving in a car. Jill is angry at Jack, so he enters a gas station and buys a card, flowers, chocolate, and a toy spider. As Jill re-fills the gas tank, Jack hides the spider in the

sun visor A sun visor is a component of an automobile located on the interior just above the windshield (also known as the shield). They are designed with a hinged flap that is adjustable to help shade the eyes of drivers and passengers from the glare ...

above her seat. Jill ignores the flowers and card but is won over by the chocolate. She pulls down the sun visor, causing the spider to fall out and the car to nearly crash. After the car stops, Jack laughs and tosses the spider towards Jill, who jolts backwards into the road and is struck by a passing vehicle. Paramedics arrive, and as one is about to insert a syringe into the unconscious Jill's arm, he is startled by the spider toy and accidentally throws the syringe into Jack's eye.

Cast

* Nash Edgerton as Jack * Mirrah Foulkes as Jill *Chum Ehelepola as Gas Station Attendant *Bruno Xavier as Gas Station Attendant *

as Hit Driver *Tony Lynch as Paramedic *

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is known for his portrayal of Will McGill on the first two seasons of the Australian drama series'' The Secret Life of Us'' (2001–02), and for playing Owen Lars in t ...

as Paramedic

Reception

Critical response

The film earned mainly positive reviews from critics. Jason Sondhi of ''short of the week'' gave film the positive review said "It’s for sure a superior film, I just think I loved everything about it except the parts that I assume everyone loves." David Brook of ''blue print review'' gave the film four out of five stars and said "A simple one-gag comedy-short that works surprisingly well due to some accomplished naturalistic direction and performances. A nice touch at the end, although unnecessary, went down well with the audience too." Wesley Morris of

Boston.com ''Boston.com'' is a regional website that offers news and information about the Boston, Massachusetts, area. It is owned and operated by Boston Globe Media Partners, publisher of ''The Boston Globe''. History ''Boston.com'' was one of the firs ...

said that "as well-delivered as its shocks are, this film is cleverness in the service of cruelty."

Home media

''Spider'' was released on DVD with The Square, on 24 August 2010.

Awards and official selections

* Official Selection -

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

* Official Selection -

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado, during Labor Day, Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 51st Telluride Film Festival, 51st edition took place on August 30–September ...

* Official Selection -

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Notes

Edgerton directed two follow-ups of ''Spider'', a short film entitled ''

Bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

'' which was released in 2011 and 2021 ''Shark''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spider 2007 short films 2007 films Australian comedy short films Australian independent films 2007 independent films Australian black comedy films Australian action adventure films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Nash Edgerton English-language independent films English-language short films English-language action adventure films

Plot

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Home media

Awards and official selections

Notes

See also

References

External links