🧠 Food for Thought - Does Madame Web 🕸️ Work Purely as a Thriller?
- John Maurice Otieno
- Jul 12, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Dec 25, 2024
"When you take on the responsibility, great power will come." This subverted Spider-Man quote by Santiago of the Las Arañas was perhaps a strong indicator that Madame Web never intended to go the traditional flashy "with great power comes great responsibility" superhero origin route. As always, spoiler alert!
Nonetheless, the film featuring a millennial protecting three Gen Z's (though, technically, it's a Gen X protecting three millennials considering its 2003 setting) was judged (perhaps too harshly in my opinion) against fellow superhero comic book film entries by critics and audiences alike.
Madame Web: The Flop.
According to Wikipedia, Madame Web underperformed at the box office, grossing $100.3 million worldwide against a production budget of $80 - 100 million. It was panned by critics as an "embarrassing mess" and the "worst comic book movie" yet. Kevin Maher of The Times declared the film represented the "death of the superhero genre, the burning of the superhero genre to the ground and then the returning in the middle of the night to piss on the superhero genre's ashes". Ouch! That's a bit harsh.
So, clearly, Madame Web as a superhero flick just doesn't hit the nail on the head, but with Pamela McClintock and James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter, and Callie Holtermann of The New York Times noting that the film was regarded by some commentators as a "future cult classic" and a "camp classic", surely, there has to be more to the movie than meets the typical superhero-moviegoer eye.
Madame Web: The Success.
Following its disappointing theatrical run, Madame Web found some semblance of success in the digital realm, soaring to the peak of Netflix’s Top 10 Movies roster just a day after its streaming debut. To explain this phenomenon, there have been theories brewed such as audiences being "curious enough to witness the wreckage for themselves", or viewers waiting for "the cheaper streaming option". However, that's all they are... theories. The fact that holds, though, is the Marvel adaptation's undeniable streaming triumph. Could a success factor be an appreciation of its subversion of the superhero genre, leaning more towards the thriller category?
"This is not your standard Marvel spectacle -- it's got far more in common with horror films like Friday the 13th and Final Destination. That's a good thing."
- Phil Owen writing for GameSpot
Madame Web: The Thriller.
To fully grasp why Madame Web works as a thriller, we must first ask ourselves...
What is a Thriller?
According to Act Four Screenplays, a thriller is a story of high suspense. The high part being crucial to distinguish a thriller as all too often, suspense is mistakenly attributed to works of mystery or shock. Consider this chart by StudioBinder (readers in this case are obviously viewers):
Timing of Crime or Crisis Event: Viewers anticipate the crime or crisis. In Madame Web, we already know of Ceiling Guy's impending demise at the hands of the "Spider-Teens". We also anticipate Ezekiel attacking them in an attempt at self-preservation.
Narrative Question: How can the crisis or impending crime be averted? Cassie can see glimpses of the future. Is the only way to stop Ceiling Guy to be a step or two ahead?
Viewer Orientation: We know about danger that the characters do not. This is otherwise dramatic irony. A good example of this is when Cassie leaves the teens in the woods, instructing them not to move. However, they soon leave for a diner and Ceiling Guy's onto them. We know the girls are in imminent danger, but the protagonist, Cassie, is none the wiser.
Viewer Appeal: Worry and concern. Up against an antagonist with superhuman abilities, we constantly worry for the girls because even though they do gain abilities in the future, they currently possess none. Ezekiel also has access to groundbreaking surveillance technology, making Cassie's ability to hide the girls from him a tall order.
Not convinced yet? Let's review some absolute must-haves of any good thriller flick. Remember, details matter.
Essential Plot Elements of a Good Thriller.
According to MasterClass, there are eight essential elements of a good thriller:
1. Suspense: We just covered this extensively by analyzing the chart above. Essentially, suspense comes down to controlling information; how much you reveal, and when and how you reveal it. In her critique of the film, Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter didn't appreciate the reliance on exposition "forcing people to explain themselves" while operating on a "need-to-know basis" for the audience. While this may hold true for the typical superhero/action genre, thrillers rely heavily on the "need-to-know" nature of suspense.
2. Hero: The protagonist we root for. They don't have to be the perfect specimen. When we first meet Cassandra Webb aka Cassie, she comes off as cold and detached. She doesn't want to "get roped in" to a baby shower, and when the son of a patient whose life she just helped save makes her a drawing, she's practically forced to take it. She also appears to have only let Ben into her non-existent circle because they "both hate family stuff". Of course, all this stems from loss and we root for her to find family in some shape or form.
3. Sidekick: Assists the hero with an alternate skill set, provides emotional support, gets themselves into trouble so the hero must rescue them, and provides comic relief. Cassie's blessed with three of them as I believe we just described Anya, Julia and Mattie to the core. The whole plot revolves around Cassie keeping them out of harm's way and they provide emotional support when they tell Cassie they'll "protect each other". They're also often the source of comic relief with their chemistry and cheesy one-liners.
4. Villain: The defining antagonistic force. Ezekiel Sims aka Ceiling Guy is the epitome of "chivalry isn't dead" when we first meet him. He holds an umbrella for Constance (Cassie's mom), and even suggests she should take a beat when the pangs of contraction overwhelm her. This makes him all the more insidious when he turns around and shoots her. However, I must admit he's a bit of a flat character lacking serious depth, with the only glimpse at his backstory being the line: "I'm not interested in helping people. No one helped me when my family was starving." The heavy ADR also doesn't do him any favors.
5. Plot Twists: Keep audiences on their toes. Ceiling Guy is seemingly warm and caring at first glance while the hero comes across cold and detached. With the glasses, introversion and anxiety issues, Julia comes off as your typical nerd. However, it's Anya who turns out to have the smarts. Also, Ezekiel's obsessed with escaping his destined demise at the hands of the teens. In the end, however, it's Cassie who deals him his final blow.
6. Red Herrings: These hint at explanations that may not be true and get the viewers to believe a false conclusion about the plot. Cassie and Ben appear to have chemistry with their witty back-and-forths. So, when Ben tells Cassie he met someone and nervously refuses to reveal whom, we assume he's dropping hints as he works up the courage to ask Cassie out. He never does, though, and it turns out the girl he met was May, Peter's aunt. Also, Constance comes across as a workaholic who won't let anything get in the way of her research, not even her unborn baby. It later turns out, though, that her research was for her child. Ezekiel's premonition is also a red herring as, in the end, the cause and time of his death are subverted.
7. Cliffhangers: Pose a big question typically midway through a climactic event. At the baby shower, Mary's about to tell us the name of her unborn child when we suddenly exit the scene, realizing it was clairvoyance. What's the child's name though? At the diner, Ceiling Guy murders Julia and Maddie in cold blood before stabbing Cassie as we abruptly exit the scene, again, realizing it was premonition. What happens to Anya though?
8. Exciting Climax: Thrillers build toward an exciting moment when the hero faces their biggest obstacle yet and the viewers learn the remaining cryptic information. One could argue this is when Cassie goes back to Peru to face her past, learning she's capable of so much more, including threading as far back as before she was born to actually speak to her mom. However, the stakes were never higher than they literally were at the roof, and seeing Cassie simultaneously project to three places to save the teens was as exciting as it was nerve-racking.
The Nutshell.
So, in a nutshell, you could say as your typical superhero origin story, Madame Web does drop the ball in its lack of a "flashy" superhero, a profoundly realized villain and exciting action sequences. However, the flick does nail it on the suspense front and executes the perfect pacing to sell itself as a thriller. Not to mention, the noughties setting pays a not-so-subtle homage to an era laden with some of the best thriller and slasher films of the century, including Unbreakable, American Psycho, Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. There's a literal logging truck ahead of Cassie as she scrambles to get to the diner before Ceiling Guy, and while it wasn't a deliberate nod to Final Destination 2, it certainly evokes the nostalgia.
"I didn't set out to do anything specifically other than I knew I wanted to make a psychological thriller."
- Madame Web's director, S.J. Clarkson, speaking to Forbes
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