With Sting, director Kiah Roache-Turner has created something more modest than his previous movies, although no less entertaining. The film combines a creature feature with a family drama to provide an outlet for Wētā Workshop’s practical effects; the gooey kills have some emotional heft behind them. This is more high-concept tinkering from the brains behind Mad Max-meets-Dawn of the Dead saga Wyrmwood but, this time around, Roache-Turner exercises restraint and lets something smaller and special grow around the pastiche.
And his cast – fully aware of the schlocky terrain they tread – embrace it in a way that only lends authenticity to the absurdity unfolding around them. Take a moment where comic book artist Ethan (House of the Dragon’s Ryan Corr) sits at his drawing board and in walks his moody stepdaughter Charlotte (Alyla Browne, playing a character whose name makes sense about two seconds after Sting introduces its central beastie). They’re working on a new series (she writes, he draws); it seems to be doing numbers, which is nice, but the project holds deeper significance. The comic is a means for her to exorcise personal demons as she nurtures their new awkward family bond—though Ethan doesn’t know that yet; as we later find out through rather affecting means, the main character in their project is based on her absentee biological father.
But just before all that stepfather-stepdaughter bonding happens… we watch an exterminator (Jermaine Fowler) get pulled through an air vent by a giant spider in sequence that tips its hat overtly to Ghostbusters. (Maybe it’ll light a fire under someone at Sony?) Roache-Turner is mixing again; tone and emotion are being played with again; and while that tone might still be cheekily tongue-in-rotted-cheek, there’s earnestness here that keeps a lot of Sting charming. Its sweetly rendered melodrama/monster movie dial often finds a good balance.
At one point, Ethan asks a creepy science-guy neighbor (Danny Kim) about the arachnid stalking the cavernous HVAC system of his New York apartment building. “What kind of spider are we talking about here?” The answer is quick and perfect: “A big one.” A giant spider is eating everything with a pulse, and with a cast as small as this – well, it’s only a matter of time before it comes for Ethan and his family.
Is that enough information to tap into the goofball rhythms of Sting? Yes and no. There is one more wrinkle to all this: this spider – which becomes Charlotte’s pet after growing at an alarming rate – is from outer space. It enters this complicated domestic situation in chaotic fashion but also very expediently: one day, a meteorite zips through the window of their building, lands inside a small dollhouse… and out pops the spider, which proceeds to squiggle its way through the playset’s teensy interiors while The Pleasure Seekers’ garage-rock bop “What A Way To Die” blares on the soundtrack (a riot in and of itself); Charlotte snatches it up then.
Charlotte lives in a small apartment. She has a secret pet. Browne is at her finest when she’s not on guard and lets people into her life, so to speak. Which is why she clashes with work-at-home mom (Penelope Mitchell) and stepdad — it’s all barbs and attitude for her. That’s why Charlotte feels most like herself in her room, where the walls are lined with comics and crafting supplies, among other things. The spider gives her a sense of agency, so she rewards it with one taken from The Hobbit — Sting sits on her bookshelf alongside plenty of others.
There’s something cozy about this movie that’s hard to shake. It takes place entirely within the confines of one building — during a blizzard no less; everyone is wearing awesome grandma sweaters — which creates a warm, insular feeling that gets repeatedly punctured by shocks and dread as Charlotte’s spider grows beyond what should be possible and starts showing signs of extranormal intelligence. The creature itself is an awe-inspiring sight in the few moments we’re allowed to see it in its full terrible glory: Wētā has made something that looks like a black widow mixed with a xenomorph, plus some freakazoid DNA from those big scary spiders in Ellory Elkayem’s Eight Legged Freaks thrown in for good measure; viewed through constantly moving cameras and an extra heightened reality sense, Sting often feels like Alien meets — you guessed it! — Evil Dead.
But then again, this is Kiah Roache-Turner we’re talking about here. Most horror fans will recognize and even appreciate much of the visual language he brings to Sting; there’s even an additional narrative flourish that nods to Roger Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors. But as the body count increases and the cinephile winks start stacking up next to each other, you start wondering what other famous movies might collide in a future Roache-Turner joint. Maybe they’ll smash into each other headfirst with something that’s all his own?
VERDICT
With Sting, Kiah Roache-Turner has assembled his most modest horror movie pastiche yet, combining Wētā Workshop creature effects with a domestic drama that actually invests you in its gooey kills. It plays too heavily with familiar concepts (Ghostbusters, Alien, Evil Dead are the biggest culprits), but boasting a cast anchored by an unforgettable Alyla Browne and House of the Dragon’s Ryan Corr helps give Roache-Turner’s icy chiller some much-needed soul — not to mention making the goopy monster mayhem to come feel like it matters.
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