After more than a twenty-year hiatus from body horror, the legendary David Cronenberg makes his long-awaited return to the genre with Crimes of the Future (which is completely unrelated to his previous 1970 feature of the same name).
As we descend on a grubby dystopian future made up of a bland/grey colour pallet it seems humanity has evolved to a point where they no longer feel pain… or anything for that matter, self-mutilation is all the rage as society spouts:
Surgery is the new sex.
And with that our hopes are immediately raised as it seems Cronenberg is going back to his routes.
We follow the life of Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), a performing artist who withdraws the constant additional organs that continue to grow inside him. Although advantageous for his career, this is not the case for Saul’s downtime as these “extra parts” make his day-to-day life a constant struggle, especially when it comes to his digestive system. Although, is it really the curse he thinks it is?
So, after Cronenberg’s long break from gruesome, gritty sci-fi, was the movie worth the wait? For the most part, sadly not.
There are elements of the plot that really has legs but before it has a chance of gaining any momentum, the movie is already over. Unfortunately, this is accompanied by one-dimensional characters and pacing which at times almost grinds to a halt. Despite this, however, there are really enjoyable aspects, especially those hard-to-watch moments that make you feel all dirty inside – which only someone like Cronenberg could get away with. From ear-men art exhibitions to bone chairs that help you eat (but definitely seem to make the process harder) the director does what he does best.
The main issue could be the fact he has pushed the envelope further decades prior with the likes of Videodrome and eXistenZ (which coincidently also had the working title Crimes of the Future). Or maybe when you look at the overall movie it just seems to be about a guy with dietary restrictions.
All in all, it’s worth a watch as there really are some intriguing concepts and if nothing else, just to see the master of body horror back in the habit.
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