Infested

In a stark desert stand-off, three Arab smugglers chase a nest of spiders, using poison gas to flush them out. The pursuit turns brutal when one is bitten and writhes in pain as more arachnids erupt from the nest. The other two grapple with the danger and eventually kill the bitten man with a machete as they flee.

A lone spider survives the desert chaos and begins a perilous journey far from its origin. It is transported to a convenience store in Paris, where the small creature becomes the seed of a creeping horror in an urban setting. The seemingly ordinary event will eventually entwine with everyday life.

In the Paris shop, Kaleb, a sneakers dealer and exotic animal lover, buys the spider along with a pair of earrings. The purchase ties the spider to a human world and sets in motion a chain of increasingly dangerous events.

Kaleb's life in a bustling, multicultural Paris suburb is crowded with ordinary concerns. He seizes a troublemaker's bag of fireworks, owes Toumani sneakers, and argues with his sister Manon about selling their deceased mother's house.

Kaleb gifts the earrings to Claudia at her farewell party, unwittingly letting the spider slip away. The loss unsettles him as he realizes the creature has escaped his control and could threaten the neighborhood.

The restless Kaleb swipes Toumani’s sneakers and ends up sleeping in the living room to keep the spider hidden. He clings to routine while the danger looms just out of sight.

The next day Kaleb clashes with his former friend Jordy as he helps Lila, Manon, and Mathys renovate the house. He also sells sneakers to Toumani, drawing the ire of Gilles, a xenophobic neighbor who suspects drug dealing. Tension rises as Kaleb's actions begin to attract trouble.

The danger escalates when Toumani is bitten by spiders crawling out of a sneaker, and he dies. The authorities remove Toumani’s body and seal the building, plunging the neighborhood into fear.

Gilles remains convinced the death is drug-related, a charge Kaleb vigorously denies. The lockdown tightens the fear as residents huddle inside and the corridor becomes a trap.

Jordy helps Lila during a tense bathroom scare as a spider and its offspring burst forth, proving the infestation is multiplying rapidly. The group realizes the danger is spreading beyond any single pair of shoes.

Kaleb confronts the truth that his actions started the infestation, as a shoebox cocoon is revealed among his belongings. The revelation horrifies the group and shifts the blame squarely onto him.

Gilles launches an attack, stabbing open a sealed shoebox he suspects holds narcotics, only to be overwhelmed by the spiders inside. They push through a treacherous infested hallway, using a time-sensitive hallway light to pause the onslaught. Police gas and gunfire force them back into the darkness. Jordy is ensnared in a web and urges the others to leave him behind.

Kaleb frees Lila and searches for Manon, but he is shot in the leg during the struggle. They find refuge in a van, and Manon tends to the wound as they patch up their differences. Kaleb resolves to keep moving toward safety.

In the climax, Lila’s car headlights slice through the darkness, clearing a path for Kaleb and Manon to flee. A large spider blocks the pursuit and buys them a moment to push open the garage door. The siblings sprint toward safety, hands clasped as they escape.

The suburb crumbles as Manon and Lila watch in silence. Kaleb digs up a shoebox containing a childhood photo and places it in the ground, allowing a spider resting on his hand to rest before he releases it, a quiet act of release as the catastrophe recedes from memory.