“Marianne” by Samuel Bodin is one of the most exciting of his works that you can watch on Netflix. In his latest play, “Cobweb,” Bodin tries to show how childhood trauma, parental abuse, neglect, and the idea that “ugly is evil” are all connected. Well, in a way, he’s just scratched the surface since the idea gets lost in the writing by the end. Even the scary parts aren’t quite good enough. If you have seen movies like “The Babadook” or “The Wailing,” you will understand what I mean here.
Spoilers Ahead.
Cobweb (2023) Movie Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Little Peter is alone as he is suffering mental stress because of the awkward behavior of his parents and nightmares. Peter’s parents, Mark and Carol, are very strict and never ignore any mistake that Peter makes. Not only that but they even ‘ground’ him for those mistakes. By grounding, they mean keeping him in the basement. This has been a tradition in the house, which made Peter an introverted kid in school. This led to all the bullying he had to face in school. Peter sleeps alone in a room, and at Halloween, he hears something on a wall. He goes to his mother, and his mother tells him that it must be a nightmare. Also, he is assured that since the house is very old, there are old cracks that shout. There is nothing to worry about. The next night, the same thing happens, only this time, someone speaks Peter’s name from behind the wall. Peter screams, and Mark arrives. He tells him that there must be some rats behind the walls that are running and making such noises.
Who hides behind the wall?
Soon Peter finds out the voice is trying to communicate with him, and he feels it is quite friendly. As time progresses, he learns that the voice is of his sister. She tells him that Mark and Carol keep her behind the wall, just as they keep Peter in the basement. She tells Peter that he needs to do the needful to avoid Sarah’s, his sister’s, fate. The voice starts getting over him in various ways. In school, the one who used to bully Peter gets pushed from the stairs and breaks his leg. All because Sarah is whispering in Peter’s ears that he needs to stand up for himself. It is not Peter’s intention to harm anyone, but Sarah’s constant whisper makes him do so. Soon after this, he is expelled from school, and Mark grounds him in the basement.
Who is Miss Devine? Why does she want to help Peter?
Miss Devine is a replacement teacher who accidentally finds something suspicious in Peter’s drawing one day in school. In the drawing, she sees a child seeking help from a bed in a dark room. Devine thinks that Peter is going through some traumatic experience, and she must see his parents. Talking to Carol, she finds something odd in her behavior. She is half-sure about the ill-fate Peter is going through. Soon after Peter gets expelled from the school, Devine visits his house again with an answer sheet from his last exam. This time, she meets with Mark as well. At that time, Peter is in the basement, suffering punishment for breaking his classmate’s leg. Peter overhears their talk in the kitchen and tries to seek help. However, Mark somehow manages to create an atmosphere where Devine feels threatened. She leaves the house. Although she leaves her phone number on the answer sheet.
Whose Skull was in the garden? Why does Peter kill his Parents?
After the punishment period is over, Peter starts behaving just like Mark and Carol want him to. He starts listening to whatever they say. Meanwhile, Sarah again contacts him and asks him to go to the garden and dig a particular place where he will find out the truth. Mark once mentioned to Peter the reason why they do not celebrate Halloween. There was a girl who went missing during Halloween. While he is down in the basement, Peter finds another pit right under there. He sees a doll at the bottom of that pit. Now, in the garden, Peter starts digging a place that Sarah has told him about. He finds a skull in the garden. He thinks that Mark and Carol killed the girl and put it in the garden. Peter is now more threatened than ever. He now plans with Sarah and mixes rat poison into the food. The poison kills both Mark and Carol. Now, as suggested by Sarah, Peter grabs the key from his mother and opens a hidden locker behind a huge grandfather’s clock. Now, Sarah is finally able to get out of her locker.
Cobweb (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
Are Mark and Carol Evil people? What happens to Peter?
Sarah goes hunting as soon as she gets her long-awaited freedom. Peter now knows that Sarah used a lot of tricks on him just to get him out of bondage. The uncles of Brian, the boy whose leg Peter broke, attack Peter’s house at that very moment. Sarah is not known to them. So, the next few minutes will be the most important of their lives. Sarah begins to eat their blood. When Peter found the skull in the yard, it was right before Mark and Carol ate dinner. That was the time when he called Miss Devine.
Now, Peter can also get help from Devine. Peter, on the other hand, screams at her to run away because he knows what risks are coming. But Devine is determined to help Peter get out of this mess. So she gets into an argument with Sarah. Sarah is a child who is mentally handicapped. She was thrown in the pit because Mark and Carol didn’t want a child who looked different. But Mark and Carol had no idea what evil they were creating. They can’t kill their child, Sarah, so they try to keep it a secret. She was locked in a pit under the basement.
Later, the pair gives birth to a perfect girl the second time they try. But Sarah, who was jealous of their happiness, told them something that killed the child. Peter was born right after that. Peter is also beautiful, which makes Sarah jealous all over again. She waits for the right time to escape, and Mark and Carol aren’t there to keep her from getting out into society. She has a plan to control Peter in a way that will be good for her in every way. But she no longer has to worry about Miss Devine.
The fact that she will do anything to protect Peter makes her a more dangerous opponent. But Peter is the one who puts her back in the pit and locks the door behind her. She tells him that since they are related by blood, Sarah will follow him around for the rest of his life. Here is where the movie stops without giving any more information about what happened to Sarah. Is that where she lives? Does she still come to Peter in his dreams? Well, the movie doesn’t show us enough to know for sure. But the ending shows that Peter still has dreams where Sarah is there and scares him.
