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This review originally published on September 9, 2023 out of the Venice Film Festival.
Screams are one thing.
Its another thing entirely to feel an audiencesquirmin their seats legs twisting, arms tensing, bodies slowly contorting.
Its a movie about huge, deadly spiders invading a French housing project.
Either way, they look like real spiders.
They feel like real spiders.
Infestedisnt a standard-issue horror film, though it starts like one.
They finally find an enormous hole, and have a go at smoke the spiders out.
Kaleb has also been building a reptilarium in his apartment, much to his older sisters chagrin.
As might be expected, Rihanna gets out.
By the time one of the neighbors squashes Rihanna, its too late.
These eggs hatch and grow to unspeakable sizes in a matter of hours.
The charged setting of thebanlieuinvites a political reading of whats happening.
The film resists more ambitious themes or more specific symbolism, however.
Indeed, the immediacy of their desperation might be the most effective political aspect ofInfested.
A general sense of hopelessness gathers over the picture as the police begin to get involved.
At first, the cops are neglectful and careless, then theyre violent.
Its enough to make the characters wonder if maybe they were better off with the spiders.
