The Bird Spider (2011)
A man with arachnophobia buys a poisonous bird spider and sets it free in his apartment.
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Memorable, crazy movie
Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
A man struggles to get over the pain and daily hell of being without his beloved Beatriz, who has left him some time now. To try and cancel out this pain, he buys a poisonous bird spider and sets it free in his apartment in an attempt to give him something else to focus on rather than this other hell of his loss.La migala ("bird spider") is an interesting short film because it mixes tension with metaphor to produce some interesting ideas in a short film that is well made. Te central concept is an odd one of course and is at times a little clumsy as a meaningful device but mostly it works because while the spider is always present, the focus is more on the man and his personal hell, rather than the one he has made himself. We see him come to terms with the spider to a point, with only occasional reminders of it being around and whenever he can his life starts to return to normal although it doesn't take much for it to snap back again. This works well alongside the idea of getting over an ex and it does so as two separate but connected threads all the way to the conclusion where the two are brought together well. Like I say, it is a little obvious as a metaphor but it is still quite cleverly done and is a good idea.The film is set totally in a small flat but it looks good, with good lighting during the day and nice dark shadows in the corners. The spider itself is a horrible thing that is well used – we see enough to know it is around but mostly it is just the memory of it and the thought of the pain it can cause that is actually doing the emotional damage to the viewer and the man. Elejalde holds the screen well and the narration is nicely enigmatic and paced. It may seem a little obvious at times but mostly this is a nicely clever short film about the pain of an ex and it connects the two ideas well.