Sting, movie (2024)
image © SP Sting Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen NSW
The Sting (2024) is a survival horror film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Sting, movie (2024)
Original title: Sting
Series: -
Setting: contemporary fantasy Earth
Product type: Film, ca. 1.5 hours, Genre: survival horror, Features: action, coming-of-age story, drama - family drama, fantasy - contemporary fantasy, horror - survival horror, science fiction, thriller, Style: ?
Release: Premiere: 2024.04.06 (Miami Film Festival), Release: 2024.04.12
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2024.05), first time
Rating: Good (2+ out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Good (2+ out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Sting, a survival horror movie from 2024. It's about the residents trying to survive a dangerous spider getting into their apartment building. The Sting film is interesting, I recommend it to fans of the genre.
If you'd like to be surprised by the Sting film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 1:03, because it starts to give away parts of the plot. If you don't mind some minor spoilers, you can watch it though.
Sting, movie (2024)
video © SP Sting Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen NSW
"After raising an unnervingly talented spider in secret, 12-year-old Charlotte must face the facts about her pet—and fight for her family’s survival—when the once-charming creature rapidly transforms into a giant, flesh-eating monster."
Sting, movie (2024)
image © SP Sting Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen NSW
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Review (spoiler-free) - Sting, movie (2024)
While browsing to watch something to fill some time, I've run into this movie. I never heard about it before, but the preview text was compelling enough, so I decided to watch it without watching the trailer or reading reviews.
The Sting movie is about the residents trying to survive a dangerous spider getting into their apartment building.
The story (by Kiah Roache-Turner) is good. Apart from some scenes, most of the movie feels consistent. There character arcs for the main protagonists. I didn't find major logical problems.
The cinematography is great, It is visually interesting. It's easy to follow the action scenes. The visual effects were also great.
All of the characters are well developed. The actors portraying them are good.
The music (by Anna Drubich) is good, it fits the movie.
Sting is an interesting survival horror film, I think fans of the genre will enjoy it.
My experience
I was satisfied with Sting (2024). I happen to like stories with well-thought, interesting plots, and Sting delivered just that.
Rating: Good (2+ out of 3 points). Sting is a well-made film.
Enjoyment: Good (2+ out of 3 points). Sting is interesting, I liked it.
Rewatchability: Average. I don't think you'd get additional details from watching it multiple times, but if you liked it for the first time, you'll probably enjoy further watchings.
Chance of watching it again: There's a chance. I liked it enough that I might watch it in the right circumstances.
Chance of watching a sequel: High. I'd sure watch it.
Sting, movie (2024)
image © SP Sting Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen NSW
Will you enjoy this?
If you like horror or action thriller movies you might like the Sting film.
If you'd like to get comedic moments in your movies, you may enjoy Sting, as it has plenty of humorous scenes.
If you prefer visuals over story, this movie might still satisfy you.
If homages to previous works get you out of immersion, this movie might not be ideal for you, as there are plenty of references. (See: Parallels )
If you hate spiders or any kind of arachnids, this movie is not for you.
If you hate depiction of violence, you should probably avoid this movie.
Do you need to see other films to enjoy this?
There are a couple of references in Sting (2024) to previous horror movies (Aliens, Predator, etc), but knowing these films is not required to enjoy this story.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in alien creature stories, I think it's worth watching the Sting movie for the plot points.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals probably look better if you watch it in cinema.
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Sting, movie (2024)
image © SP Sting Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen NSW
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Review with spoilers - Sting, movie (2024)
I liked the Sting movie.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The USA trailer is okay, although it spoils some minor parts of the movie.
Promise of the first scene
An old lady calls an exterminator to get rid of some vermin. The exterminator runs into unexpected corpses. From there, I could imagine two kinds of stories - either the old lady is a furious killer, or there's some really vicious vermin in the building. From the premise, I know it will be the latter, but it could have been interesting to see the first one. I'm pretty sure, the exterminator will eventually get rid of the creatures and save the old lady.
Execution: The old lady was saved all right. The exterminator met an unexpected fate, and the protagonist was a new character, introduced later.
Sting, movie (2024)
image © SP Sting Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen NSW
Plot summary / Synopsis
New York, present day
There's an old, demented lady (Noni Hazelhurst as Helga), who calls an exterminator (Jermaine Fowler as Frank), to deal with strange voices in her home. The exterminator sees the van of another exterminator team, and gets angry that they've called his rival first. However, when he finds the dead bodies of the rival team, he gets attacked by a creature.
4 days ago
A meteorite falls into an apartment building, and a tiny spider hatches out of it. A girl (Alyla Browne as Charlotte) tresspassing into the home of the landlady through the airduct system, to steal one of her dolls, finds the spider. She takes it home, puts it in a jar, and gives it bugs to feed on. She names the spider "Sting", after the sword of Bilbo, from The Hobbit novel.
The girl has a step-father (Ryan Corr as Ethan), a mother (Penelope Mitchell as Heather), and a baby brother (). The step-father is a part-time maintenance man, part-time graphic novel artist, and struggles to do both jobs, while still tending to his family.
As the spider grows larger, it learns to get out of the jar, and starts traveling the building through the airduct system. It kills the parrot of the landlady. The landlady (Robyn Nevin as Gunter) calls the exterminator (Frank), as they suspect it might have been the work of a rat. The exterminator goes through the building, spraying gas to get rid of vermins.
Later, the spider kills one of the tenants (Silvia Colloca as Maria). As the body falls in a way that could have caused the dead, they think it was a drunken accident.
The girl decides to show the spider to a biologist (Danny Kim as Eric) neighbour, in order to get a terrarium tank for the spider. The biologist confiscates the spider, tells the family that he gave the dangerous spider to the authorities, but he starts to experiment with it instead. During the experiments, the spider grows exponentially. When it breaks out of the tank, it's about the size of a dog.
The spider-creature captures the cat of the landlady. The landlady tries to follow the cries of her cat, and also gets captured.
Later, the spider-creature captures the stepfather, the mother and the baby brother of the girl. The girl manages to avoid the spider, and prepares to kill it. She finds it out that the touch of moth-balls dissolve its webs, and they hurt the spider-creature, so she dissolves moth-balls in water, and fills a water-gun with that.
While trying to find the spider-creature in the airducts, she finds her stepfather. She frees him, but they both fall into the basement.
The exterminator from the first scene also falls into the basement. The spider-creature follows him. The exterminator tries to kill it with a nailgun, but the spider-creature kills him. As the girl and the step-father try to escape, they find the mother and the baby, so they free them. They lure the spider-creature into the trash-compactor, and they kill the creature by crushing it.
The story ends with a cliffhanger, as new spiders hatch from the eggs in the background.
The setting
Set on a contemporary Earth, probably in 2023.
There are strange spider creatures in this world.
The spider creature
It came from the air, crashing into the building. As far as I remember, it's unclear how far it came from - from space, from a space station, or fallen from an airplane. These all could provide different sources of origin.
The egg of the spider seems very hard and solid, surviving the heat of the fall, and crashing into the building.
The spider looks very much like a spider from Earth. If the creature is extra-terrestrial, I find this especially suspicious, because why would it look like a spider? For me, it's more likely that the creature is a result of some experiment. Or if it's extra-terrestrial, it is able to take the form of creatures of the chosen biosphere.
It can spin webs. It can also shoot webs, to draw victims to its fangs. It can use its webs to put victims into coccoons.
It can sense moth-balls even through a closed jar. The touch of moth-balls dissolve its webs. Moth-balls probably also hurt the creature.
A bite from the small, spider-sized creature caused nausea and vomiting. The bite from a larger, dog-sized creature instantly paralised an adult human.
The spider is intelligent, or at least clever enough to disguise its killings. It can open the jar to get out, but after hunting, it gets back to the jar, and closes the lid.
Even the small spider is able to imitate voices. I'd assume an adult could store these voices in its memory to lure or to frighten victims.
The dog-sized spider-creature is very fast, very strong, and seems to be able to stick to walls and even the ceiling. It is not explained how does it do the latter.
It puts its eggs in a pile. When we see it, there's about 20-30 eggs at once. It's not clear how does it propagate.
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Sting, movie (2024)
image © SP Sting Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen NSW
Analysis of the story - Sting, movie (2024)
I mostly liked the story, I didn't find problems that would have prevented me from enjoying Sting.
The message of the story
I'm not entirely sure. "Don't try to maintain two jobs at once while you also need to take care of your kids"? "Don't keep dangerous pets"?
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Sting film are mostly played in sequence, following the same storyline. After the first scene, we switch back a couple of days, than the story reaches the first scene and continues after that.
There's no single viewpoint character.
It has a short dramatic beginning, then the story starts again with the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, and a kind-of resolution, that ends with a cliffhanger.
Parallels with other stories
There are many references in the Sting film to other movies:
J. R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, novel (1937)
- The book is featured in the movie.
- The creature is named "Sting" after the sword of Bilbo.
- There are also giant spiders in The Hobbit.
Aliens, movie (1986)
- The way the spider creature gets out of its egg is similar to how a facehugger gets out of its egg.
- The victims of the creature are put inside coccoons.
- There's an elaborate airduct / maintenance shaft system in the building that the protagonists and the create both use.
- A child is taken by the creature, but it's freed from the coccoon by the protagonist.
Predator, movie (1987)
- "If it bleeds, we can kill him."
Terminator, movie (1984)
- The antagonist is killed in a trash compactor.
Ghostbusters, movie (1984)
- The exterminator looks similar to the Ghostbusters.
- When the exterminator sees green slime on the wall, he immediately touches it.
E. B. White: Charlotte's Web, novel (1952)
- I assume the girl is named Charlotte due to that story.
Arachnophobia, movie (1990)
- A reviewer thinks that the nail gun is a reference to its usage in that movie.
Things I liked
- The camera work was great.
- I liked the background stories for the characters. (I liked that there were background stories for the characters at all - many movies miss this part.)
- Some of the victims of the creature were left out of focus. I liked this approach - first, we don't really need to see what exactly happened to them, second, it saves us from potentially bad CGI effects.
- Visually I liked the scene when the spider strolled through the dollhouse. However, I don't feel it fits the rest of the movie.
Problematic elements
Starting the story twice, with different protagonists: There's the first scene, that establishes the exterminator as the protagonist. By the time we accept this, we switch back 4 days, but the story doesn't start over with the daily routine of the exterminator, but switches to a young girl, who was not even mentioned in the first scene. So the audience has to reset their minds in order to get immersed again.
Introductions: The writer introduces everything before it is being used. These introductions are good, but they are not always integrated into the story. However, the writer still gets a good point for trying.
Mix of genres: While the main focus of the movie is the survival horror theme, there's also a family drama, and also a coming of age story for the girl, running in the background. Even though I liked these additional plots a lot, I didn't feel that they were perfectly integrated into the movie. I wouldn't want to cut them out of the story, but I have no idea how to blend the parts better. There's even some comedy sprinkled in between, that fits neither theme.
Universal antidote: I've found the mothball too effective against the creature. If it was a comedic feature, it took away from the otherwise more serious plot. If this were a straight-out comedy (like Evolution), it could have worked better.
Plot-lines that go nowhere: There are some story elements that doesn't get used, or add to the story.
- Harshest winter in years: We get some glimpses of snow-covered streets, but otherwise the cold and the snowstorm doesn't get utilised.
- Graphic artist: The step-father gets a job at a comics publisher, then he gets substituted by another artist.
- The father: We get some mentions of the father, that don't really get resolved by the end.
- The spider can mimic sounds: It is shown that it is capable of doing it, but it's not used in the plot.
Unanswered questions
- Where did the creature come from?
- Who called the Bug Brothers, and why? Also, when did this happen?
- What's up with the father? Why doesn't he visit his daughter?
- What happened to the family of the Spanish lady?
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Possibilities of improvement
How it could have been better?
Starting twice with different protagonists: I see two solutions:
- Let the girl call the exterminator in the first scene for the old lady. This would take away from the comedic nature of the introduction, but it would establish her as the protagonist. The exterminator - along with the audience - might not believe the "giant spider" story of the girl, but the dead bodies will be convincing.
- After the time switch, we should start over with the work of the exterminator. Cut the parts where the girl gets the spider - it could be revealed later -, and continue where the exterminator gets called to the dead parrot. After the exterminator leaves, we could follow the happenings in the building, and the tenants could be introduced while the exterminator visits every flat to clear it. This would make the dead of the exterminator more shocking. It would probably also make it harder to establish the family drama, but currently it's not an essential part of the story anyway.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I haven't seen any other works of the writer (Kiah Roache-Turner).
I haven't seen any other movies from the director (Kiah Roache-Turner).
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Sting, movie (2024)
image © SP Sting Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen NSW
Uses for the film - Sting, movie (2024)
Plot
- Set in a contemporary fantasy setting.
- The spore / egg of a creature falls into a building.
- A character finds an animal, starts to keep it as a pet, but it turns into a monster.
- A creature traps people (coccoons them) to keep them as food.
- The creature keeps these people in an enclosed enviroment (airducts).
- The protagonist gets into the creature's lair to rescue these people.
- An expert (exterminator) is called to a case, that proves to be a lot harder than expected.
- In an enclosed environment (building), an antagonist (a creature) kills people one by one.
- The antagonist (creature) is killed by using technological equipment (trash compactor).
Scenes
- For role-playing games:
- The beginning scene could be used to show to an exterminator team before a scenario starts.
- If the team is trying to catch a creature, when they are running out of time, and the creature catches someone, one of the scenes when the creature kills people could be shown, so they would feel the weight of their ineptitude.
- The scenes when a coccooned body is seen could be shown, when the team finds a coccooned body,
Designs
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
New pet 1: One of the characters gets a strange new pet. Uknown to the team, the pet does some activity in secret, then sneaks back to the team.
New pet 2: One of their friends gets a strange new pet. The team gets vaguely aware of this. Strange things start happening in the neighbourhood. When it turns out these are related to the pet (d6):
1-2: The team needs to protect the friend from the wrath of the people.
3-4: The team needs to help their friend find the escaped pet.
5-6: The team needs to get their friend out of the pet's lair.
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Creature on the hunt (solo play): The player is a small creature, that got into a building. Place the playing area, Place people inside randomly. Then choose the starting point of the creature randomly. First, the creature makes a move, then all the people move randomly. The creature touching the base of a human automatically poisons it. It takes d6 turns to feed on a human. If another human gets in visual contact with the body, it starts to move towards it. If another human reaches the body, the creature move away from the human, and the body gets removed from play (it gets taken to the morgue). If it didn't finish eating, it needs to start another victim. The creature wins if it has finished feeding, and managed to return to its starting point. The creature loses there are no more victims in the building, and it didn't finish eating.
Exterminator (harder for the player): There's a human that specifically wants to find the creature. The exterminator moves randomly. When the exterminator enters an area, it sprays poisonous gas there. If the creature is in that area, it has to leave the area, otherwise, it dies. Put 3+d3 gas counters in the area. At the end of the turn, remove one has counter from every area. If the creature moves in the line of sight of the exterminator, roll a d6. On 1, the exterminator notices the creature, and it can follow it to the next area.
Multi-player game (harder for the players): Let the exterminator be played by another player.
Multiple creatures (harder for the exterminator): There's not one, but more creatures, controlled by the creature player. Decide if they all start at the same place, or all start in random areas.
Limited gas supply (harder for the exterminator): Set a counter with the amount of gas the exterminator has. If it runs out, the exterminator has to withdraw from the playing area. It's a draw if the exterminator leaves the area alive, while there's at least one creature remaining.
Creature hunting (solo game): A dangerous creature in a building. Set up a building with multiple rooms. Designate a room, it contains the supplies. The players (use 3-4 models) start in this room, with the maximum number of supplies (3 could be good for a tense game, 6 would be more generous). They somehow know where the creature is - there's a camera system, or the creature makes loud, easy to follow noises. Choose a random area to place the creature. Every turn starts with the players moving, then the creature moves randomly. If the creature has line of sight to the players, or the creature is in an adjacent area, it moves towards the players to attack them. If the creature touches the base of a player, it gets knocked out. If the player uses up one of the supplies, it spreads gas in the area - place a gas token in the area. The creature has to leave the area in that turn, otherwise it will die. At the end of the turn, remove the gas tokens. If the player has line of sight to the creature, it can use a supply to spray the creature - roll d6. On a 1, it kills the creature. If the creature is in the same area, it kills the creature on a roll of 1-3. When the player model runs out of supplies, it has to return to the supply room to resupply.
Limited supplies (harder for the player): There's only N amount of supplies in the supply room. 20 sounds good enough.
Multi-player game (harder for the players): Let the creature be played by another player.
Multiple creatures (harder for the hunter): There's not one, but more creatures, controlled by the creature player. Decide if they all start at the same place, or all start in random areas.
Rescue from the lair (solo game): A creature has trapped some victims (6 is a good number) in its labyrinthine lair. There's one important victim, that's especially important to get out (a family member, a scientist, a politician). Set up a playing area, with multiple pathes to reach each area - use larger rooms to provide opportunity to evade the creature, and narrow corridors to constrain their movements. Deploy some entry points on the edges the lair. Place the rescue team near one of the entry points. They can be equipped with some close combat weapons (or the bug-sprays supplies from the previous scenario). They enter the lair on their first movement. If they enter a room, roll a d6. On a 1, they've found a trapped victim. Roll another d6, if it's another 1, they've found the important victim, and you don't need to roll further rolls to find the VIP. One model has to spend a full turn to rescue the trapped victim. Then they need to grab the victim, and leave an entry point with it to rescue the victim. If they've rolled a 6, they've found the resting creature. Put a creature model in the middle of the room. It wont't act in that turn, but from the next turn on, after the player's actions, the creature will make a move. If it has line of sight to a rescue team member, or it's in an adjacent area, it moves toward that member. Otherwise, it moves to a random adjacent area. If the creature gets in base contact with a rescue team member, it has paralised the team member.
If the rescue team leaves the playing area through an entry point, in the next turn, they can go to another entry point, and in the turn after that, they can enter the lair again. The creature won't leave the lair through the entry points.
The rescue team wins if they've rescued the important victim, and at least half of the trapped victims. It's a draw if they rescue the important victim, but they can't rescue at least half of the trapped victims. It's also a draw if they rescue at least half of the trapped victims, but can't rescue the important victim.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Civilians: Human-sized (S3) modern (advanced) human female / male civilian. Find a model!
Small spider: Tiny (S0) wild arachnid creature (insectoid creature). Find a model!
Large spider: Very small (S1) wild arachnid creature (insectoid creature). Find a model!
Giant spider: Small (S2) wild arachnid creature (insectoid creature). Find a model!
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Similar stories - Sting, movie (2024)
Short stories like Sting
Novels like Sting
Graphic novels like Sting
Movies like Sting
Alien (1979): In a futuristic setting, in an enclosed environment (spaceship), a something (an alien creature) kills people one by one. The antagonist (creature) is killed by using technological equipment (an airlock).
Aliens (1986): In a futuristic setting, a creature (an alien) traps people (coccoons them) in an enclosed environment (building) to keep them as food. The protagonist gets into the creature's lair to rescue these people. The antagonist (creature) is killed by using technological equipment (a power loader and an airlock).
Alien 3 (1992): In a futuristic setting, in an enclosed environment (building), a something (an alien creature) kills people one by one. The antagonist (creature) is killed by using technological equipment (a furnace).
TV series & episodes like Sting
Games like Sting
Computer games like Sting
Role-playing Games like Sting
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Frequently asked questions - Sting, movie (2024)
Is the Sting film based on a book or comics?
No, as far as I can tell, Sting is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Sting film a remake or reboot?
No, as far as I can tell, the Sting film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Sting? Does Sting have end credit scenes? Does Sting have a post credit scene?
Yes, there are two mid-credit scenes in Sting. The first shows that the dog is still alive. The second shows the grandma.
Where can I see Sting? What is Sting playing on? What streaming service is Sting on? Where can I watch Sting online? Is Sting available on Netflix? Is Sting on Amazon?
As of 2024.05.22, Sting is available on Amazon Prime Video (US), Apple TV, Google Play, Microsoft Movies (US), YouTube.
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Resources - Sting, movie (2024)
Official
Well Go USA: Sting: Official article.
Information
IMDB: Sting (2024): Database article.
WikiPedia: Sting (2024 film): Database article.
Letterboxd: Sting 2024: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Sting 2024: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article / video.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Sting film (2024)
: Review article / video about the Sting film with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Sting film (2024)
: Review article / video of the Sting movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Sting movie (2024)
: Analysis article / video, explaining the finale of Sting.¤
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Buying the product - Sting, movie (2024)
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Have you seen the Sting film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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