The French film ‘Infested’ is part of Shudder’s Halfway to Halloween lineup of horror flicks.
By Sarah G. Vincent/Boston Movie News
“Infested” is the definitive spider horror movie of all time…to date (more are coming). Sorry, “Sting.” Sébastien Vanicek’s directorial debut feature unfolds in a multicultural, close-knit community in a lower-income neighborhood near Paris. Since he was a child, fastidious black market sneaker seller Kaleb (Théo Christine) cared for a collection of beloved creepy crawlies. While buying a going away gift for a neighbor, Claudia (Marie-Philomene Nga), his deceased mom’s friend, he impulsively purchases an illegally imported spider at a bodega with a basement swimming in merchandise with shady provenance. Unaware that this spider is impervious to conventional methods of attack and highly aggressive to people who try to interact with it, he brings it home, the spider escapes, and chaos ensues.
Kaleb serves as the unofficial mayor of his building. Many older neighbors are moving out of the rundown edifice with motion-detecting lights that fail to come on, apartments in dire need of renovation, and hostile law enforcement (and some neighbors) that view them as criminals instead of the people they are supposed to serve. Budding entrepreneur Kaleb is trying to preserve his home and takes great pride in his appearance, business, and surroundings, but he is fighting a losing battle as the existing environment is already succeeding in thwarting his efforts.
Kaleb’s sister, Marion (Lisa Nyarko), can read the writing on the wall and is proceeding with preparing their flat for resale after their mother died. Kaleb’s estranged childhood friend, Jordy (Finnegan Oldfield), and his municipal police officer girlfriend, Lila (Sofia Lesaffre), decide to help Marion. Kaleb’s current best friend, bike thief and amateur boxer turned MMA fighter Mathys (Jérôme Niel), fighting under the name Little Aguilar, is like Kaleb and protective of his community.
“Infested” stands out from the rest because it initially challenges expectations. Some may dismiss this tenement based on the tenebrous appearances, but Vanicek establishes a warm, loving immigrant environment that is easy to get invested in and love, which makes it harder to watch when the spider starts to reproduce. Vanicek introduces the memorable side characters and their distinct, personal style. Madame Zhao (Xing Xing Cheng), the exasperated super who did not need killer spiders on her to-do list, handles them with the resigned fortitude of an experienced gunslinger. Toumani (Ike Zacsongo), one of Kaleb’s customers, is so committed to his signature style that he walks around with disintegrating sneakers. Monsieur Benzaoui (Abdellah Moundy) is the sweet older man who has enjoyed watching these young men grow up and get into shenanigans. Less lovable is the bigot Gilles (Emmanuel Bonami), who thinks that everyone is a drug dealer and probably has a poster of George Zimmerman on his wall. Films like “Athena” (2022) reduce these neighborhoods to violent hotbeds of unrest, with humanity marginalized for more sensational two-dimensional thrills.
A metaphor for colonialism
The spiders are unwilling immigrants to the neighborhood, and the opening sequence depicts how they were snatched from their home and transplanted to a foreign land. Their captors’ dialogue does not get subtitled, so psychologically, the audience will relate to the spiders’ confusion during their capture. It is the first siege, but not the last. The arachnids’ hostility is framed as defensive, albeit terrifying for their victims. They were minding their business, and then human beings expected them to act against their instincts when forced to become pets. It feels like a metaphor for colonialism. The tragedy is that they are attacking the descendants of people in similar circumstances who have adopted some of the vices of their colonizers: treating living entities like their pets and products and adhering to capitalistic principles.
When the first victim succumbs to their venom, “Infested” beats “Sting” because it is more realistic regarding reaction time and disseminating knowledge. The neighbors immediately knock down the door of the first victim, freak out, and call the police. Unfortunately, the spiders reproduce quicker than their response time, and once bitten, the neighbors become further breeding grounds for more spiders. Kaleb and his group try to evacuate everyone but soon discover that there is nowhere safe to go, and they are trapped inside. When the neighbors respond, they are infected and pose a risk. This movie is one of the few that depicts people who choose the well-being of the uninfected over themselves and heroically return to their apartments to die. The authorities are unresponsive or pose additional formidable obstacles until Kaleb and his group begin to wonder who is more of a threat: the spiders or the unresponsive cops.
The theme of residents versus cops may remind some viewers of the “Rec” Spanish film franchise, but instead of using the residents as obstacles and threats to sympathetic outsiders investigating the phenomenon, the residents are centered without diluting the scares, and each death has a sizable impact. Vanicek makes the authorities’ inability to see the humanity of the residents more frustrating than the exponentially increasing attacks because, theoretically, people should have more understanding and empathy than a scared, alien-looking arthropod. The film’s second siege is not only because the spiders block every entrance, but the police do as well. When the first victim dies, it retroactively becomes more frustrating because there is a lingering, unanswered question regarding how much the authorities knew and could have done instead of allowing the residents to waste time deliberating whether drugs are responsible for the death. By sowing discord and encouraging demonization, the actual threats gain time to reinforce their positions and eliminate the tenants as perceived risks. Perception is prioritized over reality.
If “Infested” has a flaw, it begins to drag before the final act when Kaleb and his group walk the gauntlet of cobweb-strewn corridors and navigate the surge of spiders. Even as unrelenting as the action is, it can drag as Kaleb and Marion resolve their sibling rivalry, Jordy and Kaleb reconnect despite a decades-long misunderstanding, and Lila is forced to overcome her arachnophobia to survive. While it is easy to care about the characters, the minutiae of their lives did not enhance the tension and felt like a distraction. For a first-time feature co-writer, Vanicek, and more experienced co-writer, Florent Bernard, these are forgivable sins that a little editing could have resolved.
It makes sense that Vanicek received and accepted an offer to direct another spin-off flick in the “Evil Dead” franchise. The film is visually striking, from the bright, open-air Middle Eastern sequence to the evocative location set in the Arenes de Picasso to the claustrophobic, terror-inducing interiors before the spiders are even a factor. Imagine what he could do if the supernatural was thrown into the mix.
It is also a testament to the filmmakers’ storytelling skills that it may not occur to many viewers to root against Kaleb and his four friends. The eerie eight-legged enemies would become everyone’s problem if they got out. The ending is ambiguous, and there is room for a sequel, though one would be unnecessary given the achievement of this creature feature.
‘Infested” (or ‘Vermines’)
Rating: Not rated, but contains strong bloody violence and gore throughout, pervasive language, and brief drug use.
Cast: Théo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, Jérôme Niel
Director: Sébastien Vanicek
Writer: Florent Bernard Sébastien Vanicek
Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes
Where to watch: It will stream on Shudder on April 26. A live Watch Party will be held at 9 p.m. on April 27.
Grade: B
Boston Movie News 