by Shane Conto, Staff Writer
Who is ready for a good old fashioned David Cronenberg body horror flick? This is the man who gave us the torso vagina in Videodrome and the grotesque human-fly hybrid in The Fly. It has been over 20 years since Cronenberg has dipped his toe back into science fiction and body horror, but it feels like he never left. Crimes of the Future feels like the greatest hits of what Cronenberg did best for decades, and offers up a darkly funny and timeless experience for the audience. Bring on the new flesh!
But what is this new dystopia that Cronenberg has created? This world is purely Cronenbergian. There is a distinct feel that Cronenberg creates with this European setting and strangely retro and futuristic approach. There are elements that feel ripped from the warped mind of H.R. Giger. This is a world ravaged by climate change, causing a poisonous existence with an ever-evolving human race. There are those who consume artificial items, those who have evolved past pain, and those who grow new organs, and the new pleasure is cutting and procedural. Of course, there are bureaucracies to oversee them all, too. There is a knowing approach to the film with a sharp wit that is constantly looking in on this crazy world and cultist approach to this new existence. There is SO much going on in this film that it might be just too overwhelming to really dig into all of it. But what does get highlighted is something special.
What about the atmosphere that Cronenberg creates around this film? Like mentioned before, Cronenberg knows when to have fun with the ideas he is portraying. There is an underlying wit about the film, and there are some meta commentaries (specifically the over-the-top and quirky performance from Kristen Stewart) that give the film a bit of a campy feel. There is a consistent tension throughout the film as well. This is a body horror film, after all. The use of surgical cutting for sexual pleasure offers up plenty of unnerving sequences that will put the audience on edge. There is even one point where Lea Seydoux’s Caprice performs oral sex to an abdominal incision on Viggo Mortensen’s belly. Yeah… that certainly happened. The visual palette of the film is crisp and stark, while Howard Shore’s score builds an otherworldly atmosphere.
There are plenty of dense themes and atmosphere, but what about the actual narrative? It is a bit convoluted to say the least. There are plenty of players to keep track of with their own backstory, motivations, and plot purposefulness. Cronenberg may have had too many ideas going into this film, but overall, it does deliver a compelling journey. There is a tenderness around the central romance between surgical artists Saul Tenser (Mortensen) and Caprice even, if they lack character depth (and that can be said about most of the characters in general). There is a wide conspiracy with plenty of interested parties that populates the central story. Stewart’s character is looking into the work of Tenser, while also showing their fascination with his art performances. The hardest element of this film is the overstuffed narrative, especially for one that is not even two hours long.
But what tops off this unnerving and compelling cinematic experience? The performances. Mortensen is gruff-voiced and full of ticks. Tenser has respiratory issues, and you can feel them with the acting choices that Mortensen makes, both big and small. There is something just so genuine in the performance that makes you buy in quickly. There are some Doctor Doom vibes to Tenser’s clothing, which had my brain fan casting like crazy (but that is just a side thought). Seydoux is the real core to the film with her sultry and tender performance. There is something so specifically alluring about her that Caprice quickly becomes a character who needs to be watched. Stewart goes full blown… well, Stewart, in this film. Her performance feels conscious and meta to the critiques that have been lodged against her in the past. She is definitely the boldest performance, but I think it works in this strange Cronenberg world. The rest of the deep ensemble offer up some memorable and believable performances that fill out this crazy world.
Do you love old school Cronenberg? If you have been anxiously awaiting the return of this impressive filmmaker back to his horror and science fiction roots, Crimes of the Future will not disappoint. This film is certainly not for everyone — there are deeply unnerving and disturbing elements that will certainly make your skin crawl. The sprawling amount and variety of ideas in this film are enough alone to make this worthwhile. This trio of talented actors are great reasons to check this new body horror out anyway.
Score: 8/10
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