Spiderhead

From criminal justice reform to the pharmaceutical industry to power of persuasion and the consequences of freedom, Spiderhead weaves a web of hot-button ideas without resonating as intended.

Despite some intermittent intrigue, this muddled combination of science-fiction thriller and biting social satire from director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) struggles to find a compelling story to tie those ambitious concepts together.

It’s set almost entirely within the confines of the titular island prison run by Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth), a scientist who lures hardened prisoners to his complex, where the relaxed atmosphere comes with a price.

The inmates are forced through a series of experiments via surgically implanted devices that administer drugs meant to alter moods and elicit certain involuntary actions. “We’re making the world a better place,” Abnesti tells his complicit assistant (Mark Paguio), although it’s difficult to tell whether he actually believes such callous nonsense.

One of his guinea pigs is Jeff (Miles Teller), who initially falls in line and even helps Abnesti administer his program before growing skeptical of his motives when one experiment ends in tragedy and another targets his relationship with a female prisoner (Jurnee Smollett). When Jeff threatens noncompliance, the ensuing battle of wits triggers chaos.

The screenwriting tandem of Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Deadpool) — adapting a New Yorker short story by George Saunders — crafts a captivating futuristic landscape, accompanied by a playful sense of humor and a cleverly orchestrated soundtrack of pop hits from the 1970s and 1980s (although Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science” is perhaps too on-the-nose).

The film bogs down in technical mumbo-jumbo about behavior modification and the limits of free will and, but the resulting ethical complexities aren’t examined with sufficient depth or sincerity. Although it builds moderate suspense within its claustrophobic setting, the characters tend to remain at a frustrating emotional distance.

However, the performances help to create some potent dynamics. In particular, Hemsworth plays God with haunting nonchalance, even if Abnesti’s unsympathetic moral vacuity is never in doubt and his comeuppance is inevitable.

The result feels like a one-off side project for the collaborators on both sides of the camera, an exercise to keep the creative juices flowing between franchise tentpoles. If only Spiderhead had followed through on its convictions.

Rated R, 106 minutes.