The Trailer for Crimes of the Future Is Cronenberg-y to the Max
The legendary Canadian director has returned to the body horror genre for his first film in eight years, set to premiere at Cannes
David Cronenberg, one of cinema's most audacious directors, hasn't given us a film in close to eight years. The absence from the reliable auteur has been sorely felt. His last feature, 2012's Maps to the Stars, was a woozy meditation on the nature of celebrity, but not quite the sign off required of a great career like his. Thankfully, the master is back with what looks to be the most Cronenbergian film yet – almost to the point of parody. That's right: grotesque shots of flesh, bodies with sockets, the lot. You can check it out in the trailer below:
Crimes of the Future, which will premiere in competition as part of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, stars the frankly dream cast of regular Cronenberg collaborator Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart, the latter two always having seemed destined for some Cronenberg madness. The title is a reference to Cronenberg's 1970 feature, also named Crimes of the Future, and therefore seems positioned as a kind of bookend to the director's long career (though Cronenberg has insisted it is not a remake).
The film's official synopsis tells us that Crimes of the Future is set in a world where “the human species adapts to a synthetic environment,” with Mortensen playing a performance artist who – along with his partner, played by Seydoux – showcases the transformation of his organs to the public. Stewart, meanwhile, plays an investigator for the “National Organ Registry,” which is certainly one way to make a living. Seems like a return to the director's familiar obsessions, then, with a firm emphasis on the body horror that has long defined his career. Long live the new flesh, indeed.
Crimes of the Future will premiere at Cannes 2022 in May and later in cinemas in June.
