{"id":17071,"date":"2022-06-17T10:47:53","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T08:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1664254"},"modified":"2022-06-17T11:12:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T09:12:11","slug":"spiderhead-ending-explained-how-is-it-different-to-the-short-story","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/spiderhead-ending-explained-how-is-it-different-to-the-short-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiderhead ending explained: how is it different to the short story?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 17 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Few directors are having a better 2022 than Joseph Kosinski \u2013 the man responsible for helming megahit sequel Top Gun: Maverick<\/a>, which has enjoyed both glowing critical reviews<\/a> and incredible box office success.<\/p>\n

But that isn\u2019t Kosinski\u2019s only film to be released this summer, with his brand new movie Spiderhead landing on Netflix<\/a> on Friday 17tth September 2022<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As with Top Gun: Maverick, Spiderhead sees the director team up with Miles Teller \u2013 with the impressive cast list also including Chris Hemsworth and Jurnee Smollett \u2013 but this is a very different beast to the Tom Cruise blockbuster.<\/p>\n

Based on a short story titled Escape From Spiderhead by Man Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders, the dystopian thriller follows events inside a state-of-the-art penitentiary run by a mysterious man who experiments on his prisoners with mind-altering drugs.<\/p>\n

And the film includes an interesting conclusion that deviates from the ending of the original short story \u2013 read on for everything you need to know.<\/p>\n

Spiderhead ending explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Netflix<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
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Spiderhead takes place inside an isolated state-of-the-art penitentiary run by Steve Abnesti (Hemsworth) \u2013 who puts his various inmates through assorted trials of mind-altering drugs in exchange for less severe sentences.<\/p>\n

These drugs include one which creates the feeling of love, one which causes the subject to tell the truth etc, and the worst of them all is Darkenfloxx \u2013 a substance that causes the user unbearable pain.<\/p>\n

Jeff \u2013 an inmate played by Teller \u2013 initially seems happy to go along with these experiments, which include forcing him to have sexual encounters with various other inmates thanks to the love drug, but his stance begins to change when he is asked to choose one of the other inmates to give a dose of Darkenfloxx to.<\/p>

The situation is also complicated by the fact that he has begun to develop a relationship with another inmate, named Lizzy (Smollett), and when Abnesti insists that Jeff give a dose of Darkenfloxx to her, he hatches a plan.<\/p>\n

With help from Abnesti\u2019s assistant Verlaine (Mark Paguio) he arranges for Abnesti to be given a dose instead, and while he is being tortured Jeff explains that he has discovered another of the drugs they\u2019d been given \u2013 B6 \u2013 which makes the user obey whatever they are told to do.<\/p>\n

This, Jeff says, is the real reason they were testing all the other drugs \u2013 and he forces Abnesti to admit that this drug was to be called Obediex, but that it hasn\u2019t worked well enough to get a \u201cgold star\u201d of approval.<\/p>\n

Abnesti continues that for it to be considered a success, the drug would have had to ensure \u201ccomplete obedience\u201d \u2013 and this had not been the case, as Jeff had not administered the Darkenfloxx to someone he loved despite being told to.<\/p>\n

Eventually, using both B6 and Darkenfloxx, Jeff convinces Abnesti to open the doors of the facility \u2013 but is not able to get him to hand over his knife, and a fight ensues.<\/p>\n

Jeff gets away for long enough to rescue Lizzy \u2013 who had been about to kill herself due to the effects of Darkenfloxx \u2013 and the two of them manage to fight off the other inmates and escape on a boat.<\/p>\n

Abnesti attempts to chase them in his plane, but crashes to his death \u2013 leaving Jeff and Lizzy free to make their escape.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How is the Spiderhead ending different to the short story?<\/strong><\/h2>\n