The Big Picture

Infested
delivers maximum terror when using real spiders, creating moments of pure horror.
The film expertly builds tension in simple scenes, proving director Sébastien Vaniček is an exciting new voice.
Despite losing its bite just a bit as the spiders get bigger,
Infested
keeps you on edge with chilling sound design and a claustrophobic atmosphere.

There is nothing quite like a good creature feature that capitalizes on the fear of knowing something is lurking in the dark. Sure, there are great works of cinema about the human condition and what it means to be alive. However, there is also something that will always be delightful in getting dropped into a film to observe characters being tormented by something just out of sight where they initially can’t fully comprehend the danger that is coming. When you then see it, you’ll go back to wishing you didn’t. Knowing that some force of nature is coming for you is what movies are also all about. In the Shudder horror Infested, director Sébastien Vaniček takes us into a terrifying apartment complex where the creatures are a swarm of spiders about to be unleashed.

Infested (2024) In a chilling exploration of survival and fear, a group of friends finds themselves trapped in an isolated cabin, where they must face a mysterious and lethal parasite that threatens their very existence. As the infection spreads, alliances are tested and secrets are revealed, turning their sanctuary into a battleground for survival.Release Date April 26, 2024 Director Sébastien Vanicek Cast Théo Christine , Sofia Lesaffre , Jérôme Niel , Lisa Nyarko , Finnegan Oldfield , Marie-Philomene , Nga Runtime 106 Minutes Writers Sébastien Vanicek , Florent Bernard Studio(s) My Box Films Distributor(s) Shudder

Even as it isn’t always quite as successful when it gestures towards having something more to say, this is a film that successfully sends a chill up the spine when it counts. From the moment we first see the crawly eight-legged creatures fatally kill someone after being smoked out of their home, we know that they and Vaniček mean business. While not the most mean-spirited horror movie you’ll see this year, it makes sense that the director has been tapped to helm a spin-off of Evil Dead as he has the same scrappy sensibility as someone like Sam Raimi himself while still bringing his own distinct vision. As a feature debut, Infested is a solid introduction to a new voice in horror who is figuring out what he wants to say and getting our skin crawling all at once. Even when his ideas don’t resonate as clearly as the screaming, it still has plenty of bite. When it comes to horror movies about spiders to come out this year, best skip the more disappointing recent Sting and see this instead.

What Is ‘Infested’ About?

The problems begin in classic, almost cheesy horror fashion with a bunch of men in a nondescript desert digging for something they really shouldn’t be. What starts as one spider bursting free and attacking one of them, who writhes in immense pain before he is put out of his misery by the descending blow of a machete, is actually many more. We then trace the journey one of them takes into France where it ends up in the hands of Kaleb (Théo Christine) who buys it to add to his collection of creatures he has in his room. Wouldn’t you know it, the spider soon gets out and begins reproducing with alarming speed. While Kaleb is plenty aware that it has gone missing, nobody else is until it is too late.

Instead, we get to know the broad strokes of the character relationships which also proves to be where the film is a little more shaky. Kaleb has a strained relationship with his sister Manon (Lisa Nyarko) as she is working to fix up the apartment following a loss they’re both still reeling from. Soon entering into the picture is her friend Lila (Sofia Lesaffre) who brings along her boyfriend Jordy (Finnegan Oldfield) with whom Kaleb has a complicated history with. We don’t fully appreciate this until much too late, with a lot of information getting dumped in all at once, but that’s all okay as the most important thing is the Attack the Block-esque battle the group must undertake against the spiders.

These sequences are something to behold and a demonstration of just how great an eye Vaniček has to bring about maximum terror from even the most simple of scenes. Whether it is when someone is putting on a new pair of shoes, unaware of what could be lurking inside, or a scene in a bathroom where we catch sight of spiders in the mirror sneaking up on an unwitting character, it’s all perfectly sinister. There is nothing too flashy about it, at least initially, and this is where it thrives. The fact that real spiders are used for much of this only makes it that much more chilling as you can practically feel their legs crawling over you as you watch. Sometimes, it’s just a moment where a character looks around where you don’t see them that carries the most weight. There is a real sense of patience to these moments and Vaniček, rightly, doesn’t immediately launch into leaning on CGI spectacle where there are plenty of more grounded moments of fear to mine first. If you consider yourself an arachnophobe, this is probably about as close to a nightmare as you could get.

As the Spiders Get Bigger, ‘Infested’ Loses Some of Its Bite

When everything escalates, with the group being effectively quarantined in the apartment complex by the police who won’t let them out, it still never loses sight of the importance of diving headfirst in the small yet no less scary moments. Even when there is someone you think might have a chance against the spiders and is playing it smart by attempting to flush them out of the ceiling, the way we see one lurking in the back before coming into strike is a thing of macabre beauty. However, the more we get past the hour mark, the more the film starts to get bigger in terms of the spiders. Sometimes, this is done quite well and with the same ability to put us on edge. Just the moment where spiders come scurrying out of a character laying on a couch cuts to the bone even as you can tell we’re starting to lose some of the effectiveness of seeing real spiders. A tasteful shot of a spider crawling out from behind a body, while likely reliant on special effects, still works because of how wonderfully framed it is.

When this builds to a tense scene where the characters must go down a hallway that is crawling with spiders, you’re willing to go with it both down and back as it’s still keeping you tied up in something more refreshingly reserved. Vaniček and the technical team consistently do a great job of drawing you into the film’s web, relying on some particularly creepy sound design when darkness sets in. As the bodies begin to pile up, the terrors increasingly come from the claustrophobia of being trapped in the building with no escape in sight. Where it comes closest to jumping the spider is the climactic parking garage scene.

This is when the film almost seems to draw a connection between the group, all living in a building that looks like an impressive work of architecture on the outside while now becoming a potential tomb on the inside, and the spiders themselves. This already fraught analogy includes a ridiculous staredown scene near the end that, to its credit, the film does then seem to poke fun at the implications of in the final shot. As such, it’s hard to count such beats against it too much when the well-crafted overall experience marks the arrival of an exciting new horror voice. Even as it comes awfully close to overstaying its welcome just a bit, much like the spiders in the home of the characters, it very quickly grows on you.

Infested (2024) REVIEWInfested is an exciting feature debut for director Sébastien Vaniček where the scary spiders overcome some more shaky storytelling.ProsThe film is a well-crafted work of horror that shows how the smallest of moments can be the most scary.From the sound design to the use of real spiders, everything is designed to cause maximum terror.Even when it gets bigger and more reliant on CGI, it still has a sharp eye for creating terrifying scenes amidst the spectacle. ConsSome of the ideas don’t resonate as clearly as the screaming and the climactic scene is far less successful than what preceded it.

Infested is now available to stream on Shudder in the U.S.

WATCH ON SHUDDER