Madame Web

Cassandra Webb, a Manhattan paramedic played by Dakota Johnson, survives a near-death accident only to wake up with the unsettling ability to see the future. Her visions aren't just glimpses, they're urgent, fragmented warnings that pull her into a race against time. Director SJ Clarkson, known for her work on TV series like Dexter and The Defenders, brings a grounded, thriller-like sensibility to this origin story. The film operates in its own corner of Sony's Spider-Man universe, far from the web-slinging heroics of Peter Parker.

Johnson's Cassie finds herself protecting three teenagers, Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazón (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor), from Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), a man with spider-like abilities and a deadly obsession. Shot on location across New York City, including the Brooklyn Bridge and the Garment District, the film leans into the city's grit and unpredictability. With an $80 million budget and a global box office of just over $100 million, it arrived in theaters on Valentine's Day 2024 to a storm of mixed reactions.[edit]

Cassandra Webb works as a paramedic in New York City, living an unremarkable life until a routine emergency call goes wrong. She falls into a coma after a car plunges into a river. When she wakes up, she sees flashes of the future, sometimes seconds ahead, sometimes days. These visions are disorienting at first, but they quickly reveal a pattern: a man in a black suit is hunting three teenage girls.

That man is Ezekiel Sims, a wealthy and ruthless figure who has been tracking Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazón, and Mattie Franklin. Sims believes these girls will one day kill him, and he wants to eliminate them before they come into their power. Cassie doesn't understand why she's connected to them, but she feels a fierce, instinctive need to keep them safe. She pulls the girls into her orbit, and together they flee across the city, staying one step ahead of Sims.

Cassie's powers grow stronger as she learns to trust them. She sees not just the immediate future but also echoes of the past, including her own childhood and her mother's mysterious work as a scientist. The visions hint at a deeper origin: a special spider, a cure for a rare disease, and experiments that gave both Cassie and Sims their abilities. Meanwhile, the three teenagers begin to develop their own powers, enhanced strength, agility, and the ability to cling to walls, though they haven't yet learned to control them.

The group takes refuge in an abandoned amusement park, where Cassie decides to stop running. She has seen enough of the future to know that Sims will not give up. She trains the girls to use their emerging abilities, guiding them through her visions. The film builds toward a confrontation in which Cassie must use every scrap of precognition she has to outthink a man who has been alive for over a century and who shares her spider-borne gifts.[edit]