31 Days of Halloween: Infested

2023, Sébastien Vanicek (feature debut) -- Shudder

Or Vermines.

This season we are doing the recent "spider trilogy". They are unrelated movies from the last few years only connected by the theme of spiders being the monster. The first is this French movie that strikes me as a nod to Rec (we saw that movie before this blog existed) and any French movie that deals with underprivileged surviving in one of the many "housing projects" where immigrant families gather together, likely because they have no choice, and end up building communities among the residents. Also, hints of Attack the Block.

The tower depicted in this movie was something so fantastic looking, I assumed it was CGI, but no, the Arènes de Picasso are very much real buildings built in the 80s. Unlike in the movie, the scant information I can find on the structures implies they are not as rundown as the movie depicted.

Anywayz, spiders. The movie starts with some Arab collectors digging around in the desert for spiders they can sell. They gas an underground nest and collect the spiders as they spill forth, but one man is bitten. As he is writhing in pain, another kills him.

The spiders make their way to Paris, to the grotty shop behind a convenience store where Kaleb (Théo Christine, Gran Turismo) is looking for earrings to give as a gift, but one of the spiders catches his eye. He seems genuinely intrigued, an enthusiast, supported by the veritable zoo in his room, filled with rare species of bugs and lizards. This introduction also includes his sister Manon (Lisa Nyarko, feature debut), who keeps turning off the power in his room leaving all the precious creatures in the dark & cold. She is trying to renovate the apartment, left to them by their late mother, so she can sell it. Kaleb is the opposite, a member of the community of the tower, over-protective and entrepreneurial despite being seen as a requisite criminal by the local busy body, this time portrayed by a man in his 40s instead of the familiar old lady. Kaleb actually seems popular with the elderly of the building. In fact, Kaleb is selling shoes, not drugs.

So yeah, his spider escapes. This is not any normal spider. This is a scifi spider. It replicates really quickly, they grow really big really quickly. Soon the place is infested, webs are in every corridor, every air vent, every dark room. Pretty soon, I was pulling my feet off the floor, and squirming all over the sofa. You see, I like big bugs, I really think hand-sized beetles and stick insects are fascinating, but... spiders... spiders give me the non-stop heebie jeebies. When the palm sized spiders were spilling out of the bathroom air vent I squirmed. When a spider the size of a small dog appeared on the ceiling behind a character, I visibly cringed.

The movie escalates really quickly. Kaleb and his "friends" (one friend, one ex-friend, a girl who hates him, and his sister) decide they have to convince the neighbours to escape the building, but the casualties rack up really quickly. Soon it is just a matter to survive long enough to ... run into a quarantine. Apparently the authorities are aware of what's going on, but have trapped all the residents in the tower, barricading doors, sealing exits, etc.  So, the kids have to find a way to get out before they join the rest of the building as spider food.

This was a fun movie, frantic and chilling, creepy and, if you are like me, scary AF. Well no, not truly scary for me, for I am able to acknowledge my fears and enjoy the ride. The portrayals are really tight but that is made easier by focusing on only the kids, where everyone else is incidental and expendable.