The 'Spider-Verse' Short Film That Just Dropped Is The Scariest Movie Of 2024
Sony Animation Studios have been teasing this 'Spider-Verse' short film for quite a while now - focused on Miles Morales suffering a panic attack and having to learn how to deal with it - and I've been genuinely curious about what the end result would look like for months.
It's pretty rare for a major animation studio to do something like this; a short-film half-sequel (I believe this takes place between the Spider-Verse movies) - but even just getting to see new animation panels from this team excited me. They practically innovated the genre with 'Into The Spider-Verse', and we've seen tons of movies ('The Mitchells vs The Machines', 'Puss In Boots 2: The Last Wish', 'TMNT: Mutant Mayhem', etc) try to replicate it since, which has been a refreshing departure from every animated flick just chasing down the Pixar style - but I digress.
When I clicked on the short, I immediately noticed that there is a donation button to the Kevin Love Fund alongside it, which made me realize that this was kind of a mental health awareness thing. Foolishly, that made me fear it might be lacking in quality (I'm all for mental health awareness but it made me think this would have an after school special vibe), when the only thing I should've been afraid of was the short film itself. This shit was scary as fuck!
From this sleep paralysis type demon watching Miles….
….to the horrific giant hairy spider it morphs into….
….to the thousands of little tiny spiders it turns into, crawling all over Miles….
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….I couldn't believe how much they leaned into a horror feel with this short!
It's probably the scariest minute or two in the whole 'Spider-Verse' saga - but it totally works! I loved how they had the comic panels closing in on Miles to represent his overwhelming anxiety at the start….
….and even the use of those panels while the spiders were all over him was great!
….and the resolution being something as simple as Miles getting some air and going on a walk with his dad is perfect.
I know the 'Spider-Verse' animators are already working overtime to try to crank out 'Beyond The Spider-Verse', but I'd welcome a few more shorts like this with open arms. Getting a little peek into the life of Miles Morales - and not Spider-Man - is super cool, and I'd love some more of that before the trilogy wraps up.