Crimes of the Future

The only mystery here is that so few could miss the obvious point of Cronenberg's "Crimes of the Future".

Maybe not his best film, but really very very good.

This may be Cronenberg's most sci-fi movie yet.
The fact is, I love David's movies; he can honestly do no wrong. That being said, I was never fully clear on what was going on here.
I mean, I got the overall premise, but as for the why, I can't tell you. Essentially, Earth has become so toxic, humans have evolved beyond pain, and in some cases, standard food. There's a lot more going on here, and I was just unclear on how all the pieces fit. All of this is fairly irrelevant, because I am used to Cronenberg's movies: I know they are going to be weird, like really weird, but they all make sense, even if it's not immediately apparent. The same cannot be said for other artistic directors.
The long and short of this is: If you are already a fan of Cronenberg's other movies, just watch this, it's really good. Reminded me a bit of _eXistenZ_. If you are not already a fan, do not start here... watch _The Fly_, work from there.

In a not so distant future, mankind is on the edge of a new image of man: The Accelerated Evolution Syndrome is spreading in a subculture of performance artists and their followers with their new aesthetics, body modifications and mutations within the human race. Within this growing subculture, radicalism becomes dangerous for the society and law enforcement is trying to hunt down the 'radicals', the 'terrrorists', the dangers to mankind.

'Crimes of the Future' is David Cronenbergs vision about the new sex, the new flesh, the new mankind. The story is more like a snapshot, a glimpse into the not so far future, than a linear developing story with some conclusion. There is a conclusion, but more for the characters, more for Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) and Caprice (Léa Seydoux), who are in the center of this movie, somewhere in an intermediate state, between the old known structures and the upcoming new world.

'Crimes of the Future' fits into the ranks of Cronenbergs former works 'eXistenZ' (1999), 'Crash' (1996), 'Naked Lunch' (1991), 'Dead Ringers' (1988) and 'Videodrome' (1993), using parts from the former ones and creating an unique sibling. Not the main characters Saul and Caprice lead the storyline, but grieving father Lang Dotrice (Scott Speedman) spices up the slow burning plot.

The images are strong, repulsive and attractive at the same time, excellent cinematography by first time director of photography for a Cronenberg movie: Douglas Koch (instead of regular cinematographer Peter Suschitzky since 1988).

The set design is reduced to the core inventory, focussing on the important points of vision, not distracting the eye. Still lives in perfection.

The score by Howard Shore, Cronenberg regular composer since 'The Brood' (1979), is modern, atmospherically oppressive, powerful and a very good listen.

Highly recommended experience.

In the near future, he grows tumor-organs in himself, she publicly cuts them out. This performance is considered art, and the law does not approve, but turns a blind eye. After all, the hero is an undercover agent who turns over to the police those who have gone far in changing themselves. But having accidentally discovered a whole community of such NON-humans, he suddenly covers his tracks. Like the director, he wants to know what’s next?

It might be low expectations due to the mixed response it’s received, but I loved Crimes of the Future. It gave me the mid-tier ‘90s Cronenberg vibe (think Naked Lunch & eXistenZ) that I didn’t know I was craving. His droll humour is in full effect - god how I’ve missed his original scripts and this was only the second he’s had produced since Videodrome. I particularly enjoyed Viggo Mortensen & Kirsten Stewart’s performances but most of the actors were fun - Don McKellar turns in one of his standard oddball turns. Lots of fun nods to earlier Cronenberg movies too. Recommended if you’re nostalgic for that specific kind of body horror surrealist humour.

For a philosophical and political cyberpunk film, it has some of the most inspired ideas and themes since eXistenZ and The Matrix, but it is structured and directed like a low-budget indie film and that really hurt its accessibility (and it's a pity because the message is really important). It felt like each character was a composite of 2-3 different characters' worth of ideas that didn't quite gel together. Maybe the script needed some trimming and polish, or maybe it would've worked better as a book than a film.

As food for thought, it was spectacular. As entertainment, not so much.

OMG, I genuinely thought for the whole movie that Lang was played by The Boys' Antony Starr lol Starr and Scott Speedman could be twins!

Not the most enjoyable of watches, it meanders a bit, though 'Crimes of the Future' is most certainly interesting throughout.

I tend to find films like this a little hit-and-miss, as I personally find the constant reaching for shock value or just simple weirdness a bit too forced. And this film does that a few times, but to be fair as the run time was ticking by I could definitely feel myself becoming more and more intrigued by events portrayed on screen.

Cast-wise, Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux great together, very good acting and very good chemistry. Don McKellar (just me who sees a Jeffrey DeMunn likeness in his eyes? probably ...) and Welket Bungué are more than decent too. Kristen Stewart and Scott Speedman give solid showings as well.

A, fair to say, weird one it is, but a weird one that I just about got enough from.

There is a return to obsessions with the human body in this film noir that takes place in a painless society, where the new sex consists of the penetration of a scalpel. David Cronenberg builds art from the viscera, finds within the rebellion of nature against technology. There are moments of extraordinary visionary gaze, but also an obvious lack of budget. Wrapped in a fascinating soundtrack, the film walks steadily.

If you want body horror, look no further. I've got a strong enough constitution that I can normally eat a meal through ANY type of movie: zombie gore, torture porn, B-movies, splatter movies, etc... This was enough, however, to give me pause while eating my lunch. Plenty, plenty, PLENTY of body horror and "slicing & dicing" here to get your kicks on, if that's your thing. In a brief glance at some of the earlier reviews, it seems like this is not a well-received film but not being an aficionado of body horror, sci-fi, or David Cronenberg films (I've watched a few, my favorite so far being _Videodrome_ .) maybe I'm not the best qualified to rate this one. That said, however, I found this to be a very interesting film and NOT filled with cheap tricks, stunts, or whatever the other naysayers were saying about it. Maybe I didn't know what to expect...and maybe that's the secret to this: Go in blind and just watch what happens. For me, I thought it was a well-done film: the acting was good enough, the story was uniquely twisted - and very original - and the cinematography was well-done. Along with a superb (IMO) accompanying musical score, I felt like all the ingredients were there to make this a very unique, well-thought-out and interesting body horror movie...and certainly with an unexpected (to me, anyway) conclusion. I had suspicions, but it wasn't until the end credits started rolling that I realized I had been completely sucked into this film and wasn't ready for it to end, and yet end it did with virtually no warning. It's not going to be for everyone - if I had known beforehand what to expect or look for, I might have avoided this one - but for those looking for something very different and ominously dark, I would recommend giving this a watch. It may be a very unpleasant pleasant surprise.