# POLISH PREMIERE | FEAR AND TERROR | spiders | reptiles | insects | even more spiders | horror | thriller | racism | highrise housing | claustrophobia | France | fright | tension | panic

VERMINES

thriller, horror | France | 2023
World premiere: Venice Film Festival 2023
Polish premiere: Splat!FilmFest

A SCARY MONSTER MOVIE ABOUT SPIDERS ONLY FOR VIEWERS WITH NERVES OF STEEL

Kaleb definitely drew the short straw when playing with life. He lives in a housing estate that even the police give a wide breath, he constantly argues with his sister and has never been more lonely than he is now. His best friends are reptiles and amphibians which live in terrariums in his small room. His home also looks a bit like a terrarium: it is a big block of flats, which looks more like a prison than home. One day, driven by an impulse he buys a dangerous spider from a rather crooked seller. When a venomous creature escapes, a fight against time begins. Kaleb and his friends try to catch the beast, but there are more and more spiders. And they are hungry.

A French horror „Vermin” is not a movie for those who scream for help when they see a spider in a bathtub. In this movie, some spiders are tiny, but others are as big as fist or even as big as a car. A claustrophobic block of flats, where all the action takes place, also causes anxiety and Sébastien Vanicek, debuting in „Vermin”, uses many original, as well as classic, methods of scaring the bejesus out of the viewers. „Vermin” is a solid monster movie, although the viewers may also find hidden social and antiracist comments, which make the whole movie even more meaningful. The authors of the movie use well-known resources from the history of the cinema to tell viewers something even more important than the typical monster movies’ plot.

The tension is present from the very first scene of „Vermin” in which you discover, where the bloodthirsty spider comes from. Your stomach will be in knots from the first to the final scene of this movie thanks to an amazing storytelling. And what a spectacular final scene this is. You better fasten your seatbelts. The role of Kaleb, who is really lost in his life, is played by a fantastic Théo Christine, who the fans of sci-fi movies may know from „War of the Worlds”. Fans of horror will recognize Finnegan Oldfield, who played in „Coupez”, shown in the latest edition of the festival.

director: Sébastien Vanicek
screenwriter: Florent Bernard, Sébastien Vanicek
cast: Théo Christine, Finnegan Oldfield, Jérôme Niel, Sofia Lesaffre
photography: Alexandre Jamin
music: Douglas Cavanna
editor: Thomas Fernandez, Nassim Gordji Tehrani
language: French
subtitles: Polish, English
duration: 1h 46min
recommended age: 16+