Film Journal 2024: Infested
Directed by Sébastien Vaniček
Back to back horror films about an infestation of dangerous spiders (this and Sting). On a purely objective level, this is probably the stronger of the two, but both have their strengths and are great entries into the creature feature genre. In the case of Infested, the contained environment of the apartment block lends it the necessary tension and intrigue.
Where Sting takes a more straight forward and tightly scripted approach, to its credit since it works well for what it wants to be (a classic creature feature), Infested is more ambitious, blending in a larger metaphor and socio-economic commentary. I’m not sure it works completely (there’s too much back and forth instead of a clear progression), but full points for its creative imagination. Most importantly it manages to create the experience and feeling of dread.
The Stories of my Life 