Spoilers couldn’t possibly have any more.

This is one of those rare films where we join the story already in progress and discover the elements as we go along. It’s not easy to do one of these, but when done right you don’t question the possibility so much and focus more of the escape route. There’s nothing seemingly preventing the protagonist from running and even then, there’s a strong sense of entrapment. The resolution seems to be completely out of reach even when escaping seems easy.

(Credit: RLJE Films)

Little Bites (2024) was written and directed by Spider One. Mindy Vogel (Krsy Fox) has an uncommon dilemma. There’s something in her basement that demands to be fed, and its appetite is only for human flesh. Worse, it seems to have its sights set on Mindy’s young daughter Alice (Elizabeth Phoenix Caro). As we learn by mostly visual storytelling, it seems the young mother has managed to talk the entity into bizarre arrangement where it feasts on Mindy’s own flesh instead of her child.

The initial premise, already in place and told by simply showing us what Mindy goes through each day, is one of the strengths that got me hooked. The monster downstairs, who we later learn calls itself Agyar, is portrayed rather brilliantly by Jon Sklaroff. The slow and passive diction and the unescapable doom of Agyar’s speech is disarming. Mindy’s pleas and bargaining attempts all seem to fall flat as she feels her body and soul being drained of life with every feeding.

Some cracks start to show as the narrative moves along. The pacing is slow and will be challenging for some audiences. There are touches of brilliance, like Mindy opting to invite and drug a stranger only to learn that Agyar won’t eat just anyone. But on the other hand there’s filler scenes like the visit of some from Child Protective Services that shows up twice before Mindy solves one problem with another. Actually, the whole subplot with Mindy sending Alice to her grandmother, who constantly berates Mindy for her life choices seemed like it would provide an interesting angle to the monster in the basement.

The beginning works, but doesn’t seem to know where to go and how to wrap up. As Mindy appears to have a realization of some sort where she decides to bring back Alice home regardless, seems leading to something that never quite materializes. If there is a some sort of spiritual confrontation that was supposed to take place it seems to have been switched for an ending out of left field. There seems to have been more into the narrative that was cut or forgotten but at some point it was the only thing left.

Recommended with reservations. It does feel like it could have become a classic. I wanted to solution and the problem to involve something about Mindy’s relationship with her own scolding mother. On the other hand, it loses time setting situations the audience can already figure out without delivering some cathartic resolution to the plot. Instead we go with some sort of twist that brings up more questions at the last minute. Worth a watch, but it does feel like the script switched to a different ending with more bite but little taste.

That will do for now.