Chris Hemsworth finds a rich groove in ‘Spiderhead’

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi prison thriller “Spiderhead” is in many wants the opposite of his “Top Gun: Maverick.” It’s a talky, interior film made during the pandemic that will be streaming on Netflix this Friday, not filling IMAX screens. But chief among its quirky pleasures is Chris Hemsworth’s leading performance as the researcher who presides as a benevolent, ’80s-yacht-rock-dancing tyrant over the Spiderhead Penitentiary and Research Center. There he cheerfully conducts experiments in which he drugs prisoners to chemically raise or lower their moods, appetites and verbal acuity. The “Thor” actor’s deft balancing act in “Spiderhead” showcases a range well beyond the MCU.