‘Sting’ is a horror sci-fi film that follows the residents of a New York apartment building during a particularly unrelenting winter. Sneaking around the building, 12-year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) discovers a spider nestled in a dollhouse. Picking up the arachnid, she names it Sting and decides to raise it as a pet.
Kicking off with a flash forward, pest control worker Frank (Jermaine Fowler) shows up in aid of old Helga (Noni Hazlehurst) who has complained about noises in the walls. Promptly subdued and dragged off screen, Frank’s exit signals the arrival and dominance of a malicious and relentless creature.
Flashing back to 4 days prior, the film tracks Charlotte as she uses the building’s air vents to sneak into other people’s apartments, lurking and rummaging through neighbour, and aunt, Gunter’s (Robyn Nevin) antique doll collection. On finding the arachnid, that had dropped from space and cocooned in a doll house, Charlotte is intrigued by the creature and adopts it.
On returning to her room, step-father Ethan (Ryan Corr) checks up on her and invites her to review his latest art work. Talking over the comic he is developing, Charlotte make suggestions for the designs and the two bond over his work. Later joining the rest of the family, baby brother and mother Heather (Penelope Mitchell) the foursome are shown as a loving and cohesive unit.
Quickly learning and growing, Sting develops at an accelerated rate and soon mysterious things occur around the building. Escalating from the dismemberment and death of a parrot to the death of a neighbour, Charlotte consults with a biology student neighbour to inquire about the type of spider she is hosting. Giving up Charlotte’s secret, Ethan learns of Sting and the threat it poses from the neighbour, causing a schism between the two.
Trapped indoors due to the storm, the family are cut off from the outside world as the power goes out. Babysitting her brother, Charlotte is unaware Sting has escaped captivity and soon comes for Heather and Ethan. Realizing the threat the creature has become, Charlotte arms herself and seeks to rescue her kidnapped family. Tracking down Ethan they manage to find Heather and the baby, soon joined by Frank who had been dragged to the basement by Sting as well.
Luring Sting to the mouth of a trash compactor, Ethan manages to engage the mechanism to crush the beast at the cost of his own safety. Now free, the family rejoices as Ethan manages to regain consciousness and the family come together in a loving embrace.
Delivering a dark and claustrophobic atmosphere from the outset, ‘Sting’ sets up beautifully the feel of a cold and abandoned basement, ideal for creatures of the night to crawl around in and hide in the shadows. Placing the action wholly within an apartment block, the story unfolds as we are shown each apartment and inhabitant as they live their lives through the miserable winter storms raging outside. Feeling trapped like the residents, the movie doesn’t allow for a world to exist beyond the block of flats, confining the characters and viewers to the mercy of the alien creature that is about to rage on the scene.
Led skillfully by Alyla Browne, the young actress exhibits masterfully the curiosity, ambition and aim of a young teenager. Interested in the world around her and intrigued by her newfound pet, Browne’s Charlotte acts with courage and strength when called upon in the crucial moment.
Complemented by Ryan Corr’s Ethan, Browne and Corr develop and examine a difficult relationship between a step-parent and child, showing the continuous effort and understanding that the relationship requires to flourish. Even though the final selfless act made by Ethan may have been more than anticipated, the film manages to display the relationship as one of genuine love, concern and complications.
Making use of many familiar creature feature tropes, the film should be commended for its masterful use of practical effects in displaying Sting, its webbing and attacks. Gross and creepy, anyone with even slight arachnophobia is sure to wince and turn away during critical scenes of the film.
Even though the film may feel conventional as it carries so many familiar themes and devices, it can be felt that the film was created with love for the genre. Writer and director Kiah Roache-Turner brings to the big screen a captivating and dreary creature feature that contains genuine scares and unexpected laughs, delivering an exciting if fleeting movie watching experience.
Score: 2/4
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