Film Review: Crimes of the Future

Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart
Running time: 107 minutes

We open on the shoreline of an unknown beach where a boy's mother calls him inside – quiet, peaceful and with seemingly no other humans around – a location we only return to once. However, this child is unlike other children. He is capable of consuming plastics by using an acidic liquid that forms in his mouth. His mum seems incredibly stressed by this revelation; quickly after this we are thrown into the desolate industrial environments that make up the majority of Crimes of the Future. With very few establishing shots telling us where we are and through the use of close ups and mid shots, we are instilled with a deep feeling of claustrophobia. David Cronenberg is back.

Cronenberg hasn’t delved into the brand of visceral body horror that he is revered and feared for since 1999’s Existenz. Nonetheless, all of his films in the new millennium have carried familiar themes, such as the haunting transformation of identity in A History of Violence, or the intensifying relationship between technology and capitalism in Cosmopolis. So, while Crimes of the Future is being hailed as his return to the slimy and ugly world of body horror, there is a film here that still feels very connected to everything Cronenberg has made in the 21st Century. His approach to cinema has become increasingly clinical and cold over the last few decades, with the actors' performances feeling very emotionally stunted and detached; yet this fits in perfectly with the barren, nameless wasteland where the film takes place.

Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) is the shadowy figure at the heart of Crimes of the Future and we are left with very little information about him, his past or even his future after the credits roll. What we do know is that he is one of the select few humans who can constantly generate new, unknown organs that grow in his body alongside the “regular” ones. Very little is known about these new organs and no one is sure what would happen to the human body if they are not removed; this fear has led Tenser to collaborate with Caprice (Léa Seydoux), his beautiful assistant, in running a performance art piece where she removes Tenser’s organs to a live audience. However, surrounding Tenser is a series of shadowy movements including a mysterious government body that wants to track and control these new organs, and a growing collective of evolutionists who are altering their body to consume toxic waste.

Despite being 79, Cronenberg shows absolutely no sign of slowing down or making films that you could consider “safe”. Instead, Crimes of the Future feels as fresh and controversial as something like Videodrome. There are a lot of sub plots and themes running through this film; the shady governmental agencies that want control over people’s bodies, a radical group of activists who alter their body so they can consume toxic waste that is destroying the planet, and the most personal which focuses on Saul Tenser reckoning with how every piece of art he makes forces him to literally remove an organ from his body – which in many ways feels like a parable to Cronenberg’s own relationship to filmmaking. In the hands of an amateur, this vast web might feel messy, but here it feels more like Cronenberg is trying to say as much as he can with the time he has left.

Cinematographer Douglas Koch captures the dystopian landscapes beautifully, and the location of Greece is perfect for the film. The aesthetics of the film are stripped back and very minimalist which only adds to the oppressive and mysterious nature of the world. Laid over the evocative images is the absolutely beautiful music from Howard Shore, which is probably the best composed film score all year. Shore provides a diverse range of pieces that range from classical compositions that aid the atmospheric, industrial backdrops to thumping dance songs that work incredibly well alongside the performance art scenes. Despite this range, it flows smoothly and compliments the film's often dark and grim tone, and yet whilst the film has these tones there is a constant feeling of romanticism and erotiscim throughout – in Cronenberg's classic voyeuristic style. 

After an eight year gap, David Cronenberg has finally returned to cinema, and he remains one of the most provocative and uncompromising filmmakers of his generation. With a career that spans over fifty years, he has lost zero spark and still manages to improve his craft and explore themes that feel relevant to modern issues. It feels like Cronenberg still has a hundred things left to say and here’s hoping we don’t have to wait so long for the next one. 

Crimes of the Future is in cinemas now