Film Review: ‘Infested’ is Determined to Get Under Your Skin

It’s a well-documented phenomenon that every couple of years, the cosmic forces of parallel thought (or greedy one-upsmanship) compel the universe into producing two films of a shockingly similar conceit. Both of Armageddon and Deep Impact took varyingly hysterical looks at the appropriate response to large hunks of rock coming to destroy the Earth. Dante’s Peak and Volcano did much the same for the lava-drenched disaster movie. A Bug’s Life found itself occupying a largely similar marketplace with the other insectoid animated spectacular of that year, Antz. The Prestige studied the impact of magicians playing mind games mere months after The Illusionist did so in a similar era. The list goes on, and you are encouraged to leave your favorite in the comments section.

This year has already been a goldmine for these cinematic kissing cousins. Whether it’s the dueling depictions of sinister nun-related pregnancies in Immaculate and The First Omen (which share Satanic similarities with Late Night with the Devil), or the tonally dissonant takes on imaginary friendships from Blumhouse’s just released Imaginary and John Krasinski’s upcoming IF (an argument might be made that this summer’s Harold and the Purple Crayon could be in sync with the childlike whimsy of the latter and the existential horror of the former). 

Now, throw into the mix a pair of well-matched creature features about an apartment complex that gets invaded by spiders of unsettling size. Infested, Sébastien Vaniček’s very literally skin-crawling fright fest finds itself releasing mere weeks after Kiah Roache-Turner’s narratively comparable Sting. They may have been conceived and shot across the globe from one another (the films are French and Australian productions, respectively), as well as executed with distinct approaches to horror (frenetic and visceral vs. deliberate and atmospheric). But for the moment, it can’t be helped that at their core, they are telling incredibly similar stories.

Yet despite both featuring a loner with questionable criminal tendencies who adopts a spider of questionable origin, which in both cases get loose and wreak havoc upon their respective suburban domiciles, the two flicks are different enough in their visual language and their thematic priorities to avoid the potential pitfall of feeling too similar. If Sting feels like Alien with a giant spider, then Infested channels something more like Attack the Block, with a rugged yet likable group of young friends trapped in a labyrinthian tenement building. And while Sting features just the one enormous arachnid within it (which is lovingly rendered by Wētā Workship), Infested features alarming amounts of the hungry horrors, who also grow to a fairly enormous size.

Indeed, if you suffer from a notable fear of spider imagery (as does our editor Joey, who bravely asked me to cover both films in his stead), then it would be impossible to recommend either entry into this very specific subgenre. But if you have a stronger stomach for cobwebs and spindly legs, then not only do they both offer the requisite thrills and chills, but they do so in ways that don’t feel redundant with one another. And in terms of sheer volume, Infested will most likely take the prize when it comes to generating panic in its viewership.

After a grisly opening scene that won’t win any prizes for a sensitive portrayal of the Middle East, the story finds its center with Kaleb (Théo Christine), a charismatic street kid who finds himself taking responsibility for neighbors and exotic animals alike. He is in a tense living situation with his sister, Manon (Lisa Nyarko), and their differing perspectives on how to deal with their deceased mother’s inheritance are regularly vented at full volume. Manon is best friends with Lisa (Sofia Lesaffre), who is dating Kaleb’s former best friend Jordy (Finnegan Oldfield), which leads to no small amount of unpleasantness when she invites the two of them to come help with renovations.

Despite a friendly relationship with his colleague Mathys (Jérôme Niel) and a few of their neighbors, Kaleb finds himself frustrated with most of his human interactions and with the lack of legitimacy he’s able to give to his hustle of reselling expensive sneakers. His pride and joy are a collection of bugs and lizards that he has accumulated, and he takes extra special care to keep them all fed and kept at the appropriate temperatures. When one of the spiders glimpsed in the opening finds its way to Kaleb, he can’t help taking it home and housing it in a shoebox. It doesn’t take long for the ravenous arthropod to escape and lay a few eggs, which lead to building-wide infestation that seemingly takes root overnight.

The local authorities seal the building off, and the lower-class residents are left to fight for themselves against a rapidly multiplying enemy that love to fill their victim’s bodies with new offspring. Kaleb, Jordy, Manon, Lisa, and Mathys find themselves awkwardly bound together as they must devise a plan for escaping with their lives. What follows is an increasingly grotesque series of set pieces delivered with stomach-churning efficiency, as the reluctant team does their best to wade from one side of the complex to the other.

These sequences make use of minimal FX work and a grimy visual style to really highlight the gradually gruesome details, and the creepy crawlers use their speed and overwhelming numbers to easily sell themselves as a legitimate menace. The absence of light is often played for tension, as when our heroes must make careful use of a wall timer to get through a web-coated hallway, or a terrifying stairwell chase where they have little more than a wind-up torch to keep the monsters at bay. And the most intimidating of the creatures are reserved for an intense parking lot finale with a palpable sense of chaos.

The fresh-faced cast acquit themselves well, with Christine and Oldfield getting decent mileage out of their estranged friendship, and Niel, Nyarko, and Lesaffre all getting moments to showcase what really makes their character tick. Director Vanicek was recently announced to be helming a new spinoff in the beloved Evil Dead franchise, and if Infested is any indication, he will be a great match for the material. The characters are likable, the scares are plentiful, and the gross-outs are effectively uncomfortable. In a year that’s already introduced a number of top-shelf horror films, this small-scale chiller is a worthy addition to their ranks.

Infested is currently streaming exclusively on Shudder.

SCORE: ★★★