Netflix fans urged to stream ‘warped’ Miles Teller sci-fi with ‘serious Black Mirror vibes’
If you've already blazed through all six new episodes of Black Mirror, then you should know about a Netflix movie that might just fill the void.
Perhaps you're still reeling from Black Mirror season seven's 'diabolical' second episode which messes with viewers' heads, or maybe you're not over the series' debut episode which 'emotionally destroyed' some of us.
Well, if you're looking for more dystopian drama, then we've got you covered.
Starring Miles Teller and Chris Hemsworth, fans of this film have been praised its premise as 'warped' - and for good reason.
Advert
Teller has had some pretty knock-out performances during his career, including his role as tortured jazz drummer Andrew Neiman in 2014's Whiplash and elite sniper Levi in 2025's The Gorge.
Back for more mental anguish, Teller stars opposite Hemsworth (Abnesti) as a drunk driver (Jeff) locked up for killing his friend in this 2022 movie that's been compared to Black Mirror.
Yet, this high-tech prison is like no other, offering inmates the chance to knock years off their sentences by testing out mind-altering drugs.
As they confront their pasts, these guinea pigs suffer the effects of N-40, a love drug, and Darkenfloxx, a drug that inflicts extreme pain and fear.
Naturally, this leads to absolute 'off-the-rails' chaos, as one reviewer put it.
The movie is named Spiderhead, after the prison Jeff and Abnesti are at.
The release, based on George Saunders' 2010 short story, Escape from Spiderhead, sees Top Gun: Maverick's Joseph Kosinski calling the shots and the Deadpool franchise's Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick behind the screenplay.
You can watch its trailer below:
Fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their thoughts, as one person wrote: "Spiderhead on Netflix has some serious Black Mirror vibes. 10/10 recommend."
A second agreed: "Absolutely loved this movie. It was like a really, really good Black Mirror episode. Enjoyed it from start to finish."
Praising its 'warped' premise, another fan wrote: "Loved this, reminded me of Black Mirror."
But, discussing Spiderhead on Reddit, many reckoned the movie wasn't quite on-par with the hit Netflix dystopian sci-fi series.
While one fan praised Teller's performance and the movie's 'ear candy' audio mix, they then complained: "Tone was trying way too hard to be Black Mirror, the switch between comedy and horror was not executed well. It needed to be a lot darker."
Another agreed: "It had its moments, but felt like a B-tier Black Mirror episode."
As far as insults go, that doesn't sound too awful...
Anyway, one thing's for sure; Spiderhead's Rotten Tomatoes score certainly doesn't live up to Black Mirror's.
Critics awarded the movie a measly 39 percent on the review aggregator site, while viewers were even less favorable, giving it just 30 percent.
Black Mirror, meanwhile, has a solid 83 percent score from critics across its seven seasons, with its latest seventh season earning a respectable 89 percent.
Spiderhead's critics' consensus reads: "Spiderhead's top-shelf cast and well-written source material are almost enough to compensate for its frequent failure to live up to its potential."
It's not all bad though, as the Boston Globe's Mark Feeney penned: "Spiderhead really goes off the rails at the end.
"But at least it has rails to go off of, and they’re pretty good ones."
That's more than can be said for a fair few Netflix movies nowadays...
Spiderhead is available to stream now on Netflix.
Topics: Entertainment, Film and TV, Netflix, Chris Hemsworth
Ellie Kemp