David Cronenberg’s latest deep dive into body horror, “Crimes Of The Future,” had its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this week (read our review here). And it looks like the Canadian auteur’s first film since 2014’s “Maps To The Stars” is another extreme offering. As predicted, the film inspired walkouts but received a six-minute standing ovation. So, the new flesh lives and continues to polarize; no surprise there.
And it sounds like the actors of “Crimes Of The Future” are just as confounded and enticed by the film they made. At the press conference for the film at Cannes, Kristen Stewart expressed just how strangely titillating acting in a Cronenberg film is. “We, the actors, spent every single day after work being like, ‘What the fuck are we doing?,” Stewart said at the conference (via Insider). “But then I watched the movie last night, and it was so crystal clear to me. It’s so exposing, and it does feel like you’re hacking up organs when you’re making something, and if it doesn’t feel that way it’s not worth it.” Of course, it’s not every day a Hollywood star describes their job in the parlance of a surgeon or a butcher, but that’s Cronenberg for you.
Set in the near future, “Crimes Of The Future” stars Stewart as a National Organ Registry investigator who becomes fascinated with a pair of avant-garde artists, played by Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux. Why the fixation? Well, Saul Tenser’s performances showcase abnormal organs his wife extracts from his body, and their underground art has won a devoted fanbase.
That premise alone might scare away the general audience, but Stewart described the film as a visceral, awe-inspiring experience. “Everyone loves to talk about how his movies are difficult to watch, and it’s fun to talk about people walking out of Cannes screenings,” Stewart said. “But every single gaping, weird bruise in his movies, it makes my mouth open. You want to lean in toward it. And it never repulses me ever. The way I feel, it is through really visceral desire, and that’s the only reason we’re alive. We’re pleasure sacks.”
The inherent allure of Cronenberg movies isn’t for everyone, but there’s no denying that Stewart is right. Cognizant meat puppets spurred on by desirous drives is an off-putting, if apt, description of the human condition. For those who continue to be intrigued by David Cronenberg’s work, “Crimes Of The Future” hits US theaters on June 3, courtesy of NEON. Follow our coverage of this year’s Cannes Film Festival to see if the film wins the Palme d’Or.