In a constant struggle to overcome a traumatic event early in his life, Spider (Ralph Fiennes) has spent most of his life in a mental institution. Released to the streets of the East End of London where he grew up, Spider is sent to a halfway house under the stern but unsupervised watch of Mrs. Wilkenson (Lynn Redgrave). As he revisits the familiar streets of his childhood, reawakening memories of his mother (Miranda Richardson) and father (Gabriel Byrne), Spider begins to uncover the truth behind the mystery of his youth. The gothic and fantastical world created by director David Cronenberg immerses the audience into the depths of a deeply disturbed boy who has crafted a reality all his own; a reality that takes him to the very limits of his faltering sanity.