Spiderhead is a mind trip of a film, but it's also one about the enduring power of human hope. Premiering June 17 on Netflix, the sci-fi thriller is based on a New Yorker short story by George Saunders and is directed by Top Gun: Maverick's Joseph Kosinski. In the intriguing film, Miles Teller plays a down-on-his-luck prisoner living in a very unusual facility that performs experiments on its inmates.
At the newfangled prison, run by the charming Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth), Jeff meets the kindhearted Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett) and soon falls in love. That's where things start to go awry in Spiderhead, because the drugs Abnesti gives his prisoners and the experiments he's conducting don't mesh as well with those who have something to live and fight for.
Screen Rant spoke to Smollett about what draws Jeff and Lizzy together, how disconcerting Spiderhead's moral dilemmas are, and which elements she seeks out in her projects.
Screen Rant: Your character Lizzy felt like a warm ray of sunshine in the middle of this prison, and I really love her dynamic with Jeff. From your perspective, what is it that Lizzy sees in Jeff? What draws her to him?
Jurnee Smollett: Oh, so much. I think one of the beautiful things about the dynamic of Lizzy and Jeff is Lizzy is analog in a digitized world. She's the archetype of the mother, and she's very nurturing. She literally brings a level of nature and soil to a world that is so cold and sterile and dead.
Really, their bond is what ends up threatening the facility the most, because you can't bottle and sell something like that - it's real; it's authentic - as much as Abnesti is trying to. And it's great, because Jeff ends up feeling guilty about it, and he feels like he's, you know, retrain her and what they're building. But it's still never going to be what they have.
I think that's, for sure, one of the things that drew me to the project is. While Spiderhead is this big, entertaining and thought-provoking narrative, and it deals with so many themes, there's this real, beautiful subplot of this love story. It was initially so unexpected to me and just so moving. When I read it, it's like these two star-crossed lovers. And what I think Lizzy sees in Jeff is a sense of home.
Did you guys have conversations behind the scenes about what you would do in this situation? Because I can't help thinking, "What would I take or accept?" If Chris Hemsworth asks, would you?
Jurnee Smollett: [Laughs] Tatiana! Would you? That's the question. The question that we'll all be asking ourselves. Although I don't think Chris would actually ask. Abnesti? Yeah.
But I did think of the Milgram experiment when I first read the script, because it does challenge us all to kind of go, "If someone is in a position of power, would we? Would we be obedient or disobedient?" If they say for us to do something, would we say acknowledge?" You want to believe that you would be the person that stands up to power? And says no, but in what ways in our life? Are we shrinking to that word?
Exactly. And you pick so many projects that are very thought-provoking, like Lovecraft Country, which I miss very much. What is it that draws you to stories in general when you are picking your next role? What is the first thing you're looking for?
Jurnee Smollett: The thing that challenges me, that scares me, that makes me connect to the woman in a way where I feel like, "There's stuff in me that's in her." I've got to relate to the character.
I don't pick things intentionally going, "Ah, this needs to be thought-provoking or have a message." I think that's just my taste. It's just the things I watch. It's the books I read. I think I'm just drawn to things that make me think, that challenge me, and that really makes me uncomfortable.
I think of myself as a forever student; my instrument is still being formed. There are notes I still haven't discovered in myself, and I feel blessed because I get to work with filmmakers like Joe and like Misha Green. I just worked with Maggie Betts on a film I did with Jamie Foxx [called The Burial], and I felt like it was a total learning experience.
My goal is to just be pushed.
I love that, and I hope that you are soon pushed into bringing us Black Canary back.
Jurnee Smollett: I love how you just slid that in! My girl.
Spiderhead Synopsis
Two inmates form a connection while grappling with their pasts in a state-of-the-art penitentiary run by a brilliant visionary who experiments on his subjects with mind-altering drugs.
Check out our interview with Spiderhead composer Joseph Trapanese, as well as with star Miles Teller.
Spiderhead premieres June 17 on Netflix.
