Spider

REVIEW
A fascinating, subtly disturbing drama, Spider ranks with Cronenberg's and Fiennes' best work. Fiennes is Spider (so nicknamed as a child by his late mother for his obsession with arachnids and webs), a just-released mental patient who's been locked up for 20 years. The halfway house he's been assigned is, unfortunately, in his old neighborhood, thus stirring up painful childhood memories of his mum and dad. These scenes (flashbacks? fabrications?) are superbly realized, with the older Spider observing himself as a child (played by the amazing Hall) interacting with his parents, often looking on with haunted dread. Cronenberg's visualization of Spider's tortured memories and dawning self-realization are enhanced greatly by spot-on art direction and another terrific score by Howard Shore. Fiennes — mumbling semi-coherently, doodling indecipherably in his notebooks, wrapping himself in newspaper — is wholly convincing, and he's matched by Byrne and the wonderful Richardson (in three roles). Spider's view of schizophrenia won't bring to mind A Beautiful Mind's symmetry, but weaves a rich, haunting examination of the fragility of the human mind all the same.