Cobweb: Weave a Web of Terror

Peter (Woody Norman), a shy eight-year-old boy lives in an old house with his overbearing father Mark (Anthony Starr) and Carol (Lizzy Caplan) his mother. In the neighborhood he lives in, a young girl went missing on Halloween night years before and it has scared the family, preventing them from celebrating Halloween. Peter is incessantly bullied at school, specifically by Brian (Luke Busey) and there is some sort of heaviness that seems to hang over the family.  Late at night, Peter begins to hear tapping in his bedroom walls and no one will believe that he is actually hearing it.  The tapping turns into a voice and soon the voice is telling him how to stand up for himself, which causes him some issues at school when Brian is hurt.  The substitute teacher, Miss Devine (Cleopatra Coleman), takes an interest in Peter and believes he may be troubled or in need of help and attempts to intervene in his life several times, to the chagrin of his parents. Peter is severely punished for his actions against Brian and is locked in the basement until he admits that he really isn’t hearing the voices in his room.  But the voices persist and the tale it tells weaves a web of horror and deceit about the family Peter thought he knew.  What lengths will Peter go to in order to save the owner of the voice trapped in the walls of his house, and is releasing it a good idea? Watch and find out!

I very much enjoyed this film, even with some obvious faults, the cinematography is interesting with the use of some odd angles and unique camera movements, giving us a skewed view of the family.  The production is nuanced with a creepy vibe that lends well to the storytelling and presents a wonderfully spooky atmosphere. The music adds to this atmosphere with haunting melodies and creepy choral sections that heighten the films vibe. The story moved at a good pace and unfolded with a natural rhythm. The cast is well chosen with Anthony Starr who is best known as Homelander in the Amazon Prime series The Boys, doing a wonderful job as the emotionally distant yet overprotective father who is borderline abusive.  I found Lizzy Caplan’s Carol a bit over the top at times and didn’t feel quite as authentic as the other actors but was still convincing as the nervous wife and mother.  Cleopatra Colemen is great as the caring teacher who brings a bit of joy and happiness to Peter and who seems to genuinely care about him.  The real star of the movie is Woody Norman, who does an amazing job as the bullied shy child who is being manipulated by his entire family.

The response to film was mixed, with most critics praising the cinematography and the aptly established atmosphere along with a departure from the clichéd slasher conventions, but cites the script which leaves some vagueness in explaining plot points, missed opportunities and a lackluster conclusion that doesn’t bring closure to the characters as negatives of the production. While I agree with these points, I feel the good definitely outweighed the bad and I actually enjoyed some of the vagueness as the clues that were given let my imagination fill in the missing information, although I am not sure that was intentional. The film had a limited release in theatres on July 21, 2023, and was released digitally on August 11^th of that same year with the Blu-Ray scheduled for release on September 12^th.  The film definitely has a Halloween vibe, so it may be worth waiting until October for your first viewing.