“Sting” Offers Compelling Allegory

Sting (Kiah Roache-Turner, 2024) 3½ out of 5 stars

The killer shark is never just a shark. The unstoppable alien loose in a spaceship is never just an alien. And the giant spider that is roaming within the walls of an apartment building in Kiah Roache-Turner’s creature feature, Sting, is not just a giant spider. Alyla Browne (Three Thousand Years of Longing) plays Charlotte, a young girl slowly opening up to her new step-dad, Ethan, played by Ryan Corr (Catching Dust). Everything about their relationship, from the perspective of Charlotte’s mom, played by Penelope Mitchell (Hellboy), seems to be on track to fill the hole in Charlotte’s heart her biological father left behind, but this good thing is put on hold once Charlotte befriends a mysterious spider she names Sting.

Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood: Apocalypse) is wise enough to understand that the mayhem and terror caused by his spider lives and breathes via the audience’s investment in the film’s human component. If the tense step-father and step-daughter dynamic between Browne and Corr isn’t believable or the film refrains from the smaller moments that endear us to Charlotte and her family, then the wonderful creature effects are appreciated but soulless. Instead, Sting runs the gambit from creepily cute to a truly haunting and incomprehensible creation of cosmic horror to which H.P. Lovecraft would graciously extend a warm embrace.

Sting brings a lot of appeal to the table, in the form of its cast, the confident direction, and a solid monster to give you a plethora of nightmares. The plotting lacks any real surprises, however: supporting characters with one or two distinguishable traits are set up only to be knocked down an act later. Still, it should be noted that most horror films follow this tried-and-true formula. The real meat of the story lies between Charlotte and Ethan. As tidbits of information are dropped about this family trying to regrow from disfunction, the purpose that Sting serves becomes all too clear.

Patrick Howard

Patrick Howard has been a cinephile since age seven. Alongside 10 years of experience in film analysis and criticism, he is a staunch supporter of all art forms and believes their influence and legacy over human culture is vital. Mr. Howard takes the time to write his own narrative stories when he can.