Do not confuse David Cronenberg's harrowing and mesmerizing drama Spider with Spider-Man, in any of its web-slinging incantations.

Do not confuse Cronenberg's vigorous film about schizophrenia with Ron Howard's mediocre Oscar-winner, A Beautiful Mind, which doggedly transformed this mental disorder into pulpy melodrama.

Spider, skillfully transformed from his own book by English novelist Patrick McGrath, stands alone as a courageous film that profoundly challenges us. Not everyone will want this confrontation. Spider can leave you exhausted, depressed.

But, for those who persevere, Spider also offers rich psychological rewards. Cronenberg's maturity as a filmmaker, as an uncompromising artist who plumbs the darkest depths of the human psyche, has never been more in evidence.

Spider also underscores the elegance of his collaboration with actors. There are no lesser or laboured performances here. Each of Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Lynn Redgrave, John Neville, Gabriel Byrne and Bradley Hall (as the boyhood version of the title character) is note perfect in conveying character and story without excess, or false emotion, and with just the right tone.

The staggering quality of the acting makes the Genie Awards snub -- no actor was nominated -- even more disgraceful.

Mumbling and shuffling and wandering through London as a lost soul, Fiennes is the centrepiece of this strange tableau. He plays Spider, a fractured being so deeply embedded in his twisted mental state that he is incapable of functioning in his shoddy, vaguely 1950s, working-class neighbourhood.

Spider is an extremely unreliable source of information about his own life, even though we start seeing his version of incidents from his childhood and his adult existence.

The marvellous Richardson plays a dual role (or triple, depending on how you look at it), underscoring the fragile nature of Spider's memory. Redgrave is the landlady. The wonderful Neville is a fellow "inmate" in the crazy world of Spider's boarding house. Bryne is Spider's poorly recalled father.

Together they inhabit Spider's tortured mind. It is worth a visit, if you value film experiences beyond the ordinary.

(This film is rated AA)

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