Netflix brings to life George Saunders’ dystopian short story, Escape from Spiderhead, which deals with morality, Big Pharma and even bigger feelings. But where the written work takes a more cynical route, the film Spiderhead diverges to give us a more hopeful story.
So what are the big changes among the two?
The major changes that Netflix’s Spiderhead makes is related to Abnesti’s B-16/Docilryde drug, Jeff’s death and creation of new character, Lizzy.
To be honest, other than the ending and the major addition of one new character, the film is quite faithful to the short story, sometimes even mirroring dialogues word for word. But the changes made do give the story a whole different taste, so let’s explore it:
1. Jeff’s Backstory
In the novel: Jeff is sent to this absurd penitentiary, after getting extremely violent in a bar fight and smashing a guy’s head with a brick, killing him.
In the film: Jeff is convicted of manslaughter after his drunk driving accident kills his fellow passengers, his best friend and girlfriend.
Other than changing Jeff’s backstory of how he got sent to prison, Jeff’s personality is largely unchanged. It is implied that he is generally good natured and wants to repent for his mistakes.
2. Abnesti’s Backstory
Seeing how we have the thunderous Chris Hemsworth playing Abnesti, the character is given much more dept than in the novel. In the latter, he’s almost a one-dimensional villain and we don’t get much of a read on his character or know why he’s conducting any of the experiments.
In the film, we find out that he too is addicted to the drugs that he administers to the inmates, which becomes his Achilles heel. His own personal relationships, be it with her father or his kids, has also been explored.
I’ll take this space to talk about another Abnesti-related character, Verlaine — Once again, much more fleshed out that his novel counterpart and has a bigger role to play in the ending.
3. Lizzie
Lizzie is a big, bold addition to the film, which may get readers divided about how much they agree with this decision.
In the novel, the only two “love interests” that Jeff has is Heather and Rachel, neither of whom he is actually in love with, outside the influence of the drugs. In the film however, Jeff develops very real romantic feelings for a fellow inmate Lizzy, who serves as the main catalyst for the controversial ending.
4. No Higher Power
Mid-way through the film, Jeff pockets the keys Abnesti drops, then uses it open and go through his desk. Here he discovers that unlike what Abnesti told him earlier, there are no “higher-ups,” because the prison is run by Abnesti Pharmaceuticals.
In short, it was Abnesti’s sole decision to administer Darkenfloxx to Heather, who dies by suicide because of it. He wasn’t coerced into doing it by any other person in authority.
This revelation is one of the key factors that drives Jeff to the decisions he makes during the ending.
5. A Bingo Drug Swap
This is perhaps quite a small negligible change, but the film names drugs named on random Bingo numbers (N-40, B-16, etc).
Other names are invented or take inspiration from the novel, where the theme was to name the drug for what it would make the person feel/do. For example: Laffodil, which would make a person laugh at anything at all.
Novel readers will also reconnize that the film’s B-16 may be the equivalent of the novel’s Docilryde. In the novel, Abnesti has already perfected B-16/Docilryde, a drug that can make the user follow all or any commands.
In the film however, Abnesti has not yet successfully tested B-16, which acts an unhinged incentive to keep torturing the inmates. He also uses the other drugs as minor side quests that lead to him validating his B-16’s success.
6. The Ending
In the novel: After witnessing how Heather died under Darkenfloxx’s influence, Jeff refuses to have Rachel undergo the same ordeal. He doesn’t make this decision because he has romantic feelings for her, but because he knows it is morally corrupt.
Instead of letting Abnesti “win,” Jeff injects himself with the Darkenfloxx that was meant for Rachel. He manages to escape the prison, but the drug has already started tormenting his body and he collapses outside.
Here, he believes he hears a voice that says he has another chance at life. But he refuses, choosing to die as someone who would not get manipulated into killing someone (Rachel, or whoever else Abnesti would’ve thrown his way).
In the film: With Lizzy’s introduction, things go way different in the film. First of all, it is made to seem like Jeff refusing Abnesti’s orders stem from his feelings for Lizzy, not because he has a moral compass of his own.
Jeff also figures out that all of the inmates (including himself) have only been giving their consent to getting tested because they’re already under B-16’s influence. Which is why, when Abnesti orders Jeff to administer Darkenfloxx to Lizzy, it is a big struggle.
Verlaine who had started to doubt his boss’ scientific intentions, dashes in to help with police reinforcement. Since the movie establishes that the prison is on an island, Abnesti is seen trying to escape in a floatplane that ultimately crashes into a mountain, because he’s high on drugs.
The biggest change is that Jeff is alive and he escapes with Lizzy in motorboat, ready for happily ever after and a rumored sequel as well.
7. About Spiderhead
Spiderhead is an upcoming American science fiction thriller film directed by Joseph Kosinski, with a screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, based on the dystopian short story “Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett. Hemsworth is also a producer on the film. Principal photography took place in Australia, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Spiderhead is scheduled to be released on Netflix on June 17, 2022.
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