Movie Review: 'Paper Spiders' is a Deeply Empathetic Look at Mental Illness

Paper Spiders is an emotional rollercoaster regarding the ups and downs in a strained relationship between a teenage daughter and a mother suffering from mental illness. The film stars Lili Taylor in the role of the mother and newcomer Stefania LaVie Owen as her college bound daughter. Facing life alone in a big empty, her husband having passed away not long ago, the mother begins to exhibit strange behavior that spirals out of control.

Dawn (Lily Taylor) and Melanie (Owen) have always been close but since the passing of Melanie’s father, they’ve been glued at the hip. Now, however, with Melanie looking at college at USC, far away from their northeastern roots, Dawn is beginning to show signs of strain. Then, one day, as new neighbors are moving in next door, the neighbor backs into a tree on their property and refuses to apologize. Dawn and the unseen neighbor have a verbal altercation and that would appear to be the end of the interaction. Unfortunately, it’s only the beginning.

After this encounter, Dawn begins to hear things. She becomes convinced that the new neighbor is throwing rocks at the side of her house. Late at night, Dawn hears noises on the roof , likely pine cones falling from the tree, and she becomes convinced that the neighbor is now crawling on the roof in an effort to get at her. Melanie quickly becomes concerned. She can see that the neighbor isn’t after Dawn, especially after she confronts the neighbor’s wife who explains that Dawn’s persecution complex is deeply unfounded.

Meanwhile, Melanie is also navigating the final days of her High School years. She’s earned the title of Salutatorian, she’s looking forward to college and she’s somewhat at odds with her best friend, Lacy (Peyton List). Lacy wants Melanie to be more outgoing and take chances on meeting boys and Lacy would rather study and just get it over with. That becomes a challenge when she meets a boy, Daniel (Ian Nelson), a troubled soul who cries out for saving.

A son of privilege, Daniel is not one who takes no for an answer, lavishing Melanie with gifts as an enticement to go out with him. He also has a charming wounded side that appeals to Melanie's desire to take care of people. Meanwhile, Melanie has it in her head that Dawn’s problem is loneliness so perhaps Mom/Dawn, needs a date. Melanie creates a dating profile for Dawn which leads to Howard (Tom Papa), a sweetheart divorcee with a good sense of humor and immediate attraction to Dawn.

Unfortunately, these parallel dating roads are filled with potholes. Daniel is more troubled than he lets on and Melanie aggravates that by gravitating to him as a way of distancing herself from trouble at home. Howard meanwhile, never stands a chance with Dawn whose problems go far beyond mere loneliness. Dawn’s psychosis runs deep and beyond affecting her ability to date, it affects her job, and most of all, her relationship to Melanie.

Paper Spiders was directed by Inon Shampianier from a screenplay by his wife, Natalie Shampanier. Natalie was incredibly familiar with the story as her mother developed a mental illness that drove the two of them apart for a time. The type of disorder displayed by Dawn is one that lies dormant in many and one can never know what might trigger it. Once triggered however, it can have a devastating effect. That authentic firsthand experience combined with Lili Taylor’s powerhouse performance makes Paper Spiders resonant and deeply affecting.

Paper Spiders is an incredibly emotional movie and I highly recommend it because of that fact. It’s also remarkably well made, intimate, thoughtful and frightening. That said, if you are someone whose family has been affected by the kind of delusional psychosis that Lili Taylor’s Dawn is going through, you may find the film hard to watch. Beyond that however, it’s also a rare movie to shine a light on this kind of mental illness, one so sudden and terrifying as this. There aren’t many movies that portray mental illness in this fashion and hopefully those affected will feel seen and empathized with by Paper Spiders, as it is also a deeply empathetic film.

Paper Spiders will be in some theaters nationwide and available for on-Demand Rental beginning May 7th, 2021. Get more information about Paper Spiders by following the movie on Twitter, @Paper_Spiders.