Earwig

2022 1h 54m EN

😐

5.5

MID

🍅

73%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

5.3

IMDB

★5.5TMDB · 71🍅73%Rotten Tomatoes●61Metacritic★5.3IMDB · 1,814

DramaFantasyHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Somewhere in Europe, mid-20th century. Albert is employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice. Mia never leaves their apartment, where the shutters are always closed. The telephone rings regularly and the Master enquires after Mia's wellbeing. Until the day Albert is instructed that he must prepare the child to leave.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Paul Hilton
Albert
Romane Hemelaers
Mia
Romola Garai
Céleste
Alex Lawther
Laurence
Peter van den Begin
The Stranger
Anastasia Robin
Marie
Michaël Pas
The Dentist
Isabelle De Hertogh
The Concierge

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lucile Hadžihalilović
Writers: Geoff Cox, Lucile Hadžihalilović
Languages: English
Countries: Belgium, France, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 4 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Belgium, France, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović, shot by Jonathan Ricquebourg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Nicolas Becker. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Adam Finch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Paul Hilton and Romane Hemelaers and Romola Garai carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt10062338 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 71 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lucile Hadžihalilović directs. Jonathan Ricquebourg behind the camera. Nicolas Becker scores. Adam Finch cuts. Produced in Belgium, France, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 4 years ago.
2International production across 3 countries: Belgium, France, United Kingdom.
3Directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović, shot by Jonathan Ricquebourg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Nicolas Becker. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Adam Finch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Paul Hilton and Romane Hemelaers and Romola Garai carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt10062338 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 71 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jonathan Ricquebourg
Original score: Nicolas Becker
Editing: Adam Finch
Production design: Julia Irribarria
Costume design: Jackye Fauconnier
Makeup / hair: Anne Moralis
VFX supervisor: Murray Barber
Sound: Benoît Biral
Stunt coordinator: Olivier Bisback
Runtime: 114 min · 1h 54m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Earwig (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 61/100
IMDB rating: 5.3/10 · 1,814 votes

Awards

1 win & 3 nominations total

Also by

Lucile Hadžihalilović

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-18
★ 5/10
What ever you do, don't have lunch immediately before you watch this. I made that mistake and a combination of pasta, a comfortable seat in a dark and warm cinema and the glacially slow nature of the story here made it nigh on impossible for me to keep my eyes open. From the outset, I struggled to correlate the title with any aspect of the plot as it unfolded (I think) before me. "Mia" (Ramane Hemelaers) is a young girl living in a shuttered-up house with little furniture. Her only companion is her carer "Scellinc" (Paul Hilton) who looks after her, and more importantly (and confusingly) her teeth. This rather mundane routine continues, interrupted only by their housekeeper and the occasional calls from their "masters". It is when one such call indicates that it is time for "Mia" to leave and travel to meet them that the story begins to intertwine with a parallel thread in which "Céleste" (Ramola Garai) - whom we know was involved in a nasty altercation with "Scellinc" in a bar that left her face disfigured - is travelling on the same train with her benefactor "Laurence" (Alex Lawther) who keeps her regularly supplied with laudanum to ease the pain. To say that the whole thing is surreal would be an understatement, and I - quite frankly - have no real idea what the last twenty minutes are meant to convey. There is a warning about gore with this film, but right til the very end I didn't spot any, and even then it was hardly shocking - indeed the whole film was just a pedestrian drama that left me pondering what it was really about, and for whom it was made. The photography looks good, though - plenty of attention to the detail of the overall aesthetic makes for a classy looking production but there is a real acuity of dialogue to help guide us along and I am afraid after very nearly two hours I really wasn't any the wiser.
Henrietta20252025-05-03
★ 9/10
Dark dark dark dark dark, makes David Lynch look like a sitcom. If you enjoy (like I do) not really knowing what's going on, stories that are open ended and able to be interpreted any number of ways - this is a great film for you. I found myself wondering if it was an allegory, if it was about mankind and cruelty and life in general - and therefore, it was. Beautifully photographed, the music is haunting, and the acting is superb. If you give yourself over to it and don't expect the constant Dopamine jolts of American Films, it's most enjoyable. Like a nice warm bath, you may find it relaxing to enter this dreamscape - or you may want to slit your wrists. Or both.