Paper Spiders

Friday, May 7 - Thursday, May 27, 2021

Recently widowed Dawn experiences growing anxiety as her daughter Melanie plans to move away for college. An altercation with a hostile new neighbor aggravates Dawn’s mental condition and she begins to show signs of paranoid delusions. Melanie plans a series of interventions to help her mom, but Dawn’s paranoia spirals out of control. Challenging Dawn’s reality of persecution threatens to destroy their loving relationship. Melanie is forced to make the toughest of choices as she struggles to keep her mother afloat. A bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of mental illness.

“It is a pleasure to see Lili Taylor sink her teeth into a starring role, and she plays her character’s manic descent with a plalpable and heartbreaking practicality.” – Teo Bugbee, The New York Times

• Running Time 110 minutes
• Director Inon Shampanier
• Producer Ash Christian
• Cast Lili Taylor, Stefania LaVie Owen
• Accessibility T-Coil, Assistive Listening

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.