Sting

Twelve-year-old Charlotte finds a tiny spider, keeps it as a pet in a jar, and names it Sting. It is not from Earth, it learns to mimic sounds, and it grows very fast, and the building's residents start to disappear.

Kiah Roache-Turner made a creature feature in the Gremlins and Arachnophobia tradition, largely practical, set almost entirely within one crumbling apartment building during a snowstorm, which gives it a real claustrophobia.

The spider is an animatronic and a puppet for most of the film, which is why it has genuine presence.

It is a family-in-peril film with a stepfather subplot that gives it more heart than the premise requires, and it knows exactly what it is.

Alyla Browne is very good as Charlotte, and the ventilation-shaft sequences are the standout.