Official synopsis
A church group’s annual retreat turns deadly when they wander into the wrong part of the Ozark wilderness, and something starts picking them off one by one. Suspicion falls on Ricky (Russell “Russ” Vitale), the troublemaker of the group. But the real threat is far worse. Deep in the forest, wrapped in a labyrinth of webs, the group is pursued by a terrifying prehistoric arachnid that hunts by vibration. When every step could be their last, they only have one choice: DON’T MOVE. It’s up to Megan (Lyndsy Fonseca) to hold what’s left of the group together and get them out alive.
Review
For the first several minutes of Don’t Move, I was wondering if I had started the wrong movie, as there is a lot of happy family fun at a carnival. Well, things took a turn, for sure.
Megan (Lyndsy Fonseca) waits outside while her husband and young son go on a haunted house ride, where disaster breaks out. Coming from a lifelong creature feature fan, it’s hard to make a giant spider scary later in the film when you have a harrowing sequence early in the first act of a mother failing to rescue her husband and son as she watches them die in a fire.
Director Maclain Nelson attempts it, though, with a screenplay that he cowrote with James Murray and Darren Wearmouth, the latter two of whom wrote the novel on which the film is based. Megan, still grieving one year later, joins her neighbor Pastor Rizzo (Tom Cavanagh) and members of his church on a camping outing. One missed turn leaves the campers where they think they should be, but actually several miles from their intended destination. The place just happens to be home to the monstrous spider I mentioned earlier.
Intrigue within the group occurs as nogoodnik Ricky (Russel “Russ” Vitale) plans to use the church bus to secretly smuggle half a million dollars worth of heroin, and as he used to date the pastor’s daughter Emma (Hunter King) — she must go for the bad boys — there’s instant beef between him and her new beau Ryan (Joseph Lee Anderson). Also along for the trip are self-proclaimed trail guide Paul (Rob Riggle), grandparents Jim and Maryanne Wisnton (Mark Vaughn and Dee Freeman), and their grandson Connor (Patrick Bippus). That’s a small group for a church trip but a lot of potential spider chow.
The spider attacks in slasher movie fashion as it chooses its victims one by one. It’s fast — one character proclaims that they can’t outrun it, just after actually outrunning it — and senses where the humans are by way of vibrations on its giant webs. Despite the film’s title, the folks must try to escape.
The spider is brought to cinematic life through CGI, and looks pretty good for a lower budget film. The cast members give it their all, sometimes pushing performances to a shade below overdoing it but never crossing into camp. Fonseca believably plays a woman who has witnessed her loved ones die and is determined to lead whoever she can to safety from the scourge of the spider.
Don’t Move serves up some odd choices but overall, creature feature and arachnid horror devotees should find it well worth a watch.
Don’t Move, from Well Go USA, is available on digital from October 13, 2026.
