| Spider | |
| Director: | Nash Edgerton |
| Producer: | Nicole O'Donohue |
| Starring: | Joel Edgerton Mirrah Foulkes Nash Edgerton |
| Cinematography: | Greig Fraser |
| Editing: | Luke Doolan Nash Edgerton |
| Studio: | Blue-Tongue Films |
| Distributor: | IndieFlix |
| Runtime: | 9 minutes |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
Spider is a 2007 Australian black comedy short film directed by Nash Edgerton and written by David Michôd and Nash Edgerton.[1] [2] [3] [4] The film had its world premiere in competition at the Sydney Film Festival on 17 June 2007. After that the film competed at number of film festivals and was later released theatrically together with Edgerton's feature-film The Square.[5] [6] [7]
A couple, Jack and Jill, are driving in a car. Jill is angry at Jack, so he enters a gas station and buys a card, flowers, chocolate, and a toy spider. As Jill re-fills the gas tank, Jack hides the spider in the sun visor above her seat. Jill ignores the flowers and card but is won over by the chocolate. She pulls down the sun visor, causing the spider to fall out and the car to nearly crash. After the car stops, Jack laughs and tosses the spider towards Jill, who jolts backwards into the road and is struck by a passing vehicle. Paramedics arrive, and as one is about to insert a syringe into the unconscious Jill's arm, he is startled by the spider toy and accidentally throws the syringe into Jack's eye.
The film earned mainly positive reviews from critics. Jason Sondhi of short of the week gave film the positive review said "It’s for sure a superior film, I just think I loved everything about it except the parts that I assume everyone loves."[8] David Brook of blue print review gave the film four out of five stars and said "A simple one-gag comedy-short that works surprisingly well due to some accomplished naturalistic direction and performances. A nice touch at the end, although unnecessary, went down well with the audience too."[9] Wesley Morris of Boston.com said that "as well-delivered as its shocks are, this film is cleverness in the service of cruelty."[10]
Spider was released on DVD with The Square, on 24 August 2010.[11] [12]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Sydney Film Festival | Best Short Film-The Satellite Venues (Audience Award) | Nash Edgerton | [13] |
| Australian Film Institute Awards (AFI) | Best Visual Effects | Mike Seymour | [14] | |
| AFI Fest | International Shorts Competition Grand Jury Prize | Nash Edgerton | [15] | |
| Australian Directors Guild | Best Directing in a Short Film | Nash Edgerton | [16] [17] | |
| 2008 | Anchorage International Film Festival | Best Super Short Film | Nash Edgerton | [18] |
| Aspen Shortsfest | Hi-Five To Lo-Fi Award | Nash Edgerton | [19] | |
| Best Comedy (Jury Award) | Nash Edgerton | |||
| Flickerfest International Short Film Festival | Best Editing an Australian Short Film | Nash Edgerton Luke Doolan | ||
| IF Awards | Best Short Film | Nash Edgerton Nicole O'Donohue | [20] | |
| Indianapolis International Film Festival | Best Short Film (Audience Award) | Nash Edgerton | ||
| Nashville Film Festival | Best Narrative Short (Honorable Mention) | Nash Edgerton | [21] [22] | |
| San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival | Best Short Film (Audience Award) | Nash Edgerton | [23] | |
| Best short film youth jury award | Nash Edgerton | |||
| St Kilda Short Film Festival | Best Short Film (Audience Award) | Nash Edgerton | [24] | |
| Sundance Film Festival | Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking | Nash Edgerton | ||
| 2009 | 24FPS International Short Film Festival | Best Short Film (Audience Award) | Nash Edgerton | [25] |
| Best Editing | Nash Edgerton Luke Doolan |
Edgerton directed a follow-up of Spider, a short film entitled Bear which was released in 2011.[26]