Spider

A young woman named Vita agrees to model for a portrait of the Virgin Mary painted by a controversial artist. As the sessions continue, she is drawn into his unconventional circle and begins to experience disturbing visions in which the painting seems to come alive and the artist appears to her as a giant spider. The boundary between imagination and reality blurs as she is pursued by nightmares and grotesque images, leaving her unsure whether what she experiences is real.

Vasili Mass directed this 1992 drama-horror film, his second feature, from a screenplay by Vladimirs Kaijaks. It was produced in Russia and Latvia by Rīgas kinostudija and Deckrim. Aurelija Anuzhite plays Vita, alongside Mirdza Martinsone as her mother, Liubomiras Laucevicius as the artist Albert, Saulius Balandis, Algirdas Paulavicius and Romualds Ancans.

The film ran for 98 minutes on its release. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.6 out of 10 from 496 votes, while on TMDB its rating is 5 out of 10 from 21 votes. The larger and more favourable IMDb sample and the much smaller TMDB sample point to a modest but established following rather than broad recognition.