The Girl and the Spider

The Girl and the Spider (German: Das Mädchen und die Spinne) is a 2021 Swiss drama film written and directed by Ramon and Silvan Zürcher.^[1] The film centres on Mara (Henriette Confurius) and Lisa (Liliane Amuat), two women who have been living together, and portrays the emotional complications as Lisa moves out to a new apartment.^[2]

The Girl and the Spider
Promotional release poster
German	Das Mädchen und die Spinne
Directed by	Ramon Zürcher Silvan Zürcher
Written by	Ramon Zürcher Silvan Zürcher
Produced by	Adrian Blaser Aline Schmid
Starring	Henriette Confurius Liliane Amuat [de]
Cinematography	Alexander Haßkerl
Edited by	Katharina Bhend Ramon Zürcher
Music by	Philipp Moll
Production companies	Beauvoir Films Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen Zürcher Film
Distributed by	Edition Salzgeber Xenix Filmdistribution
Release date	July 8, 2021 (2021-07-08) (Berlinale)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Switzerland
Language	German

The film premiered in the Encounters program at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival,^[3] where the Zürchers won the award for Best Director in the program alongside Denis Côté for Social Hygiene (Hygiène sociale).^[4] It had its North American premiere at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival.^[5]

Cast

• Henriette Confurius as Mara
• Liliane Amuat [de] as Lisa
• Ursina Lardi as Astrid
• Flurin Giger as Jan
• André Hennicke as Jurek
• Ivan Georgiev as Markus
• Dagna Litzenberger-Vinet [de] as Kerstin
• Lea Draeger [de] as Nora
• Sabine Timoteo as Karen
• Birte Schnöink [de] as

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 93% rating based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The critics consensus reads: "Beneath its deceptively placid surface, The Girl and the Spider grapples with deeply meaningful questions of personal identity in the face of fundamental change."^[6] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[7]