The Girl and the Spider (Das Mädchen und die Spinne)

As Lisa moves out of the apartment that she shared with her friend Mara, the two women along with handymen, acquaintances and the former’s mother pack up their previously joint life. All of these people crammed together in one small space is a recipe for tensions bubbling over; that is, if they were real people. Unfortunately, however, this film follows a group of life-like, extremely good-looking robots. 

The feature can be broken down into three equal parts. The first is the characters exchanging blank, unemotional looks at each other that are supposed to communicate something, but it genuinely just appears as if they are waiting in line. The second is a recurring element in a lot of art cinema where those on screen feel the impulse to glide their index finger across every object in their path. A photo frame, a colouring pencil or the shoulder of another: filmmakers attempt to imbue this with some poetic expression of how sensual the persona is, but in practice, it is just frustrating and repetitive to watch. The third portion is when the fictive individuals decide to partake in an infrequent conversation in which the dialogue sounds like it was spoken in the college dorm of a high person.

There’s a well-known stereotype that art cinema is tedioud and pretentious just because it doesn’t adhere to Hollywood tropes; but some films can be difficult to relate to and to find meaning in. The Girl and the Spider does not evoke any real reaction, emotion or feeling, falling flat and ultimately proving unmemorable. It is 100 minutes of a group of beautiful, thin actors standing around staring at each other saying, feeling and communicating nothing. There are some attempts at side plots that include a fine amount of nudity, but the overall feel of the picture is an apathetic, robotic attempt at showcasing human experiences. 

This feature wastes its actors on hollow and passive characters, with a script that seems like it was inspired by teenage Tumblr posts and an acid trip went awry.

Emma Kiely

The Girl and the Spider (Das Mädchen und die Spinne) does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2021 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for The Girl and the Spider (Das Mädchen und die Spinne) here: