We’re Not Here to Fuck Spiders is an attention-grabbing film from the title drop. It’s even more interesting when you read about the vision behind the production. Filmed in a single week in a Sydney squat, writer-director Josh Reed briefed his experienced cast on their characters, the camera locations, and the goal of the scene they were about to shoot then sat back and let the magic happen without any pesky scripts, blocking sessions, or rehearsals. It’s a wonder that there’s a film here at all, let alone the well-polished cinema we have here. This is an excellent piece of found-footage filmmaking, the positions of the nine cameras hidden in the den of debauchery skilfully capturing and obscuring the action to further draw out the suspense. The audio production is exceptional and more than anything else makes the film feel real, giving the house a sense of 3D space that the stationary camera feeds cannot.
But for some it is the performances of the actors that will make or break this film. While there is a lot to admire here, I can’t help but think that a closer handle on the dialogue could have made what is a great piece of filmmaking into a great film. Physically the part is solid by all parties, who look and move like they truly belong in the carefully curated chaos, but there are a lot of improvised lines that just don’t belong in the flop, as well as some bizarre pitch-changes and awkward moments that undermine the tension and sense of reality that is essential to the genre. There are some very heavy themes in Spiders and it’s all captured unerringly, and perhaps a more carefully controlled set could have given these moments the depth and a better appreciation of the ‘other side of the tracks.’
If you can catch this one before it slips away I would recommend putting aside 85 minutes to watch the chaos unfold.