Sting (film)

Sting is a 2024 horror film written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner, and starring Ryan Corr, Alyla Browne, Penelope Mitchell, Robyn Nevin, Noni Hazelhurst, Silvia Colloca, Danny Kim, and Jermaine Fowler. The film follows a young girl who secretly raises a spider as her pet, which then transforms into a giant monster.

Sting was released in the United States and Canada on April 12, 2024.

Plot
Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old girl lives in a dilapidated apartment building with her overworked step-father, Ethan, her mother Heather and baby half-brother Liam. Charlotte is often left on her own and stumbles upon a tiny spider hatched from a strange, glowing object that crash-lands in her great-aunt's apartment. Intrigued, she decides to keep the spider as a pet, naming it Sting.

As Charlotte cares for Sting, the spider begins to grow at an alarming rate. She initially keeps its size a secret, but as it becomes more difficult to hide, her father and neighbors start to notice strange occurrences around the building. Sting's growing size and insatiable appetite soon lead to the death of pets and residents. Charlotte's relationship with her step-father is strained over the reality of her biological father. During a meltdown from Ethan, Sting attacks both parents while Charlotte is nearby oblivious with her brother.

The tension escalates when Sting, now a gigantic spider, traps several residents in the building using mimicked sounds to lure prey. Charlotte accidentally learns the spider's weakness from her grandmother and goes on a hunt for her now missing family. As Charlotte saves Ethan, they face numerous obstacles, including Sting's intelligence and adaptability. During a showdown in the building's basement, Sting attacks the group, resulting in a battle.

Charlotte manages to lure Sting into a trap with the help of Ethan. Using a trash compression device, they finally destroy Sting, but not without sustaining significant losses. With Charlotte's family safe, they do not realize that Sting has laid several eggs, one beginning to hatch.

Production
Principal photography took place in Australia and wrapped in February 2023.

Release
Sting was released on April 12, 2024 in the United States by Well Go USA Entertainment.

The film is scheduled to be released in New Zealand on 16 May 2024, in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2024, in Germany on 20 June 2024, to be followed by releases in Australia and Spain later in July 2024.

Box office
Sting grossed $825,797 from 975 cinemas during its opening weekend in North America (United States, Canada and Puerto Rico).

, the film made $2,327,012 worldwide, with its release in North America accounting for almost 50% of that and with its international revenue at $1,202,502.

Critical response
Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting gave it a score of 3/5, writing, "Thanks to Browne's bold performance and an emphasis on practical creature effects, Sting works as an entertaining throwback creature feature." Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic also gave it 3/5 stars, calling it "a solid if unspectacular entry into the eww-gross-spiders category... But when it tries to wedge in some version of Meaningful Family Drama, it loses its way a little bit." Variety's Owen Gleiberman said the film was "a blithe apartment-house riff on Alien crossed with elements of The Shining". He concluded, "Sting is never more than a cheeseball trifle, but at least the film knows it."

IndieWire 's David Ehrlich gave the film a C grade, writing, "There's decent fun to be had in this crafty and contained Aussie skin-crawler... but Sting is a bit too small for its massive alien spider to maneuver itself in unexpected ways, and the tender human story that Roache-Turner weaves around her lacks the bite it needs to melt your heart or liquify any of your other organs." Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave it 2/4 stars, writing, "The makers of Sting... have obviously seen a lot of genre movies, but that cinephilia doesn't translate into good cheap thrills or crowd-pleasing adventure drama."