A Supernatural Spider Spins Murderous Webs in Horror Film ‘Sting’ [MOVIE REVIEW]

For me I never understood the appeal of insects or reptiles as pets. What purpose could a spider, turtle, or snake serve for entertaining or being any type of companion for a child or adult for that matter. Yet, there are many who welcome those types of pets into their lives. I’m on the brink of a paralyzing phobia when it comes to bugs so there’s no way I would ever willingly take care of one. That’s not the case for Charlotte in the upcoming horror flick “Sting.”

Alyla Browne as Charlotte in “Sting.” Photo: Well Go USA Entertainment. 

Written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner, “Sting” follows12-year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) living in a quant apartment with her mom Heather (Penelope Mitchell), stepdad Ethan (Ryan Corr) and her new baby brother. Heather’s mom Helga (Noni Hazlehurst), who suffers from dementia, also lives in the building along with Gunter (Robyn Nevin), the landlady and Helga’s sister. Silvia Colloca and Danny Kim play other residents in the building and Jermaine Fowler plays an outspoken exterminator.

(L-R) Robyn Nevin as Gunter, Noni Hazlehurst as Helga, Jermaine Fowler as Frank in “Sting.” Photo: Well Go USA Entertainment. 

The first glimpse of the supernatural spider comes after a comet descends from the sky and lands in a dollhouse in Helga and Gunter’s apartment. Charlotte has a habit of traversing the air vents in the apartment complex for fun and soon discovers the spider. Charlotte takes the insect under her wing and calls it Sting. Viewers quickly find out that this is no ordinary spider as it can mimic sounds and is very intelligent. As Sting gets smarter and larger it’s clear that this spider will become a problem, but it took entirely too long for any exciting action to happen. But when it did those were the best parts of the film.

There are also a few side characters introduced, as mentioned above. Danny Kim plays a weird resident experimenting on animals in his dimly lit dwelling and Silvia Colloca plays a depressed woman who lost her family in some way that’s never revealed. Introducing these characters and these subplots serves no real purpose in moving the story along besides setting them up to be playthings for Sting. There’s also another plot of Charlotte trying to bond with her stepdad Ethan, and they do so over their shared love of drawing and creating a comic book together, with Ethan taking on the bulk of the work. Charlotte’s birth father is out of the picture, sort of, and that causes tension between Ethan and Charlotte’s mom Heather. I guess these elements were used to add some heart to the film, but they were kind of unnecessary.

Danny Kim as Erik and Ryan Corr as Ethan in “Sting.” Photo: Well Go USA Entertainment. 

“Sting” picked up in the final act and had moments that left my audience audibly reacting in the theater. If the bulk of the movie leaned into Sting terrorizing the residents more then I would have loved this movie from start to finish, but since it didn’t the last 30 minutes or so were the best parts. The way the movie ended leaves the window open for a sequel, but I had so many questions as to what led up for that moment to happen. Overall “Sting” is an adequate addition to the creepy crawler subgenre of horror that will have something to keep your attention.

“Sting” comes to theaters on April 12, 2024.

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Photo: Well Go USA Entertainment