In a rickety old house, in the endless darkness, a secret lurks—one that may be the end of naïve, neglected Peter (Woody Norman), whether it be by the hands of his suspicious, spooky parents Carol (Lizzy Caplan) and Mark (Antony Starr), or the creature that’s knocking from within his bedroom walls at night.

While too vague in its execution, this freaky flick is still sure to be a Halloween favorite, punctuated by its stellar set design, eerie imagery and atmosphere, and Caplan and Starr’s unnerving performances.

Peter is a bullied, lonesome boy in a blustery, dreary autumn town, living in an old house surrounded by a rotting pumpkin patch. His parents are old-fashioned, peculiar, distrustful, and emotionally abusive. Carol is theatrical and borderline unhinged with her too-wide smiles and breathless dialogue; Mark is stoic, sinister, and exudes toxic masculinity, with Antony Starr bringing his best “if-Homelander-was-a-suburban-dad-giving-candy-out-on-Halloween” vibe.

Both parents fail to connect with their son, and instead harbor secretive tendencies, gaslighting their child when he tells them he can hear whispering and knocking from within his bedroom walls. When it escalates, Peter begins to suspect that his parents have been hiding a deadly secret from him for years.

Cobweb turns the tables on its audience—instead of having horror movie parents who disbelieve their child with good intentions, it’s evident from the start Mark and Carol are anything but innocent.

Cobweb places the viewer in Peter’s shoes, and forces them to contemplate, what would you do if the people who raised you were harboring an evil secret?, a question more terrifying than any horror movie monster.

Despite its impressive creepiness interwoven throughout the film’s imagery, Cobweb doesn’t address many of the questions that are posed by its characters and, by extension, its audience. Frustratingly, many things are left unanswered or flat-out forgotten, even if the plot point was essential to Peter’s character arc.

Still, Cobweb is effective in the terror it sells. Caplan and Starr’s demented performances are brilliant in building tension and making you jump, and the creature design in the third act is highly memorable. The vintage Halloween feel is a nice touch here, too—Cobweb feels like a ghost story you heard as a kid that terrorized you when your parents shut off the light.

Cobweb
2023
dir. Samuel Bodin
88 min.

Opens Friday, 7/21 @ AMC Boston Common