‘The Shrouds’: David Cronenberg Remains Uncertain If His Latest Film Will Be His Last: “I Really Don’t Know”

David Cronenberg shocked the cinema world two years ago when he came out of retirement and showed up at the Cannes Film Festival with a new film, “Crime Of The Future.”  2014’s “Map To The Stars,” which also had a Cannes premiere, was initially supposed to be Cronenberg’s last.  Now, will the Canadian auteur’s latest, “The Shrouds,” be his swan song?  THR reports that, honestly, Cronenberg has no clue what the future holds for him as filmmaker.

READ MORE: ‘The Shrouds’: Watch 3 Clips From David Cronenberg’s Cannes Horror About Grief & Reconnecting With The Dead

“I have no idea right now what I will do next, but I don’t want to say that I won’t make another film,” Cronenberg told THR in an interview before Cannes got underway.  “Because I don’t know. I really don’t know.”  The 81-year-old mentioned Steven Soderberg, who’s infamously retired and unretired several times over, and Quentin Tarantino‘s plan to retire after 10 films as he broached the retirement subject. ” It’s a huge commitment of time,” Cronenberg said of making a film, “and I don’t have another life for all that time. So I guess it would be more balanced and discreet to not mention those moments when you have that impulse [to retire] because, of course, things change. And you might decide you’ve retired and you’re bored, and then you come back.”

Of course, that’s what Cronenberg did after “Maps To The Stars,” retiring for seven years before reemerging with “Crimes Of The Future.”  But there may be another reason for Cronenberg’s return to filmmaking in 2021, which also serves as a main influence on “The Shrouds,”: the 2017 death of his wife, Carolyn. She and Cronenberg were married 43 years before she passed, and the director’s grief over her death played into the premise he concocted for his new film.  “The Shrouds” centers around Vincent Cassell‘s Karsh, a mourning businessman and widower who creates GraveTech, a technology that allows loved ones to monitor their departed loved ones in the grave. Diane Kruger and Guy Pierce also star.

“The Shrouds” has a very sci-fi premise that’s quite Cronenbergian in its body horror implications, but for the director, it’s rooted deeply in real-life emotions.  “Certainly, some of the things that are said in the movie were said [by me],” Cronenberg said about his new film.  “For example, I did, when my wife was being buried, want to be in the box with her. I couldn’t imagine not being there. Of course, in the real world, that’s not possible.”  But Cronenberg also said that Karsh’s GraveTech could easily become a real-life technology to communicate with the deceased.  “I don’t think there’s any fantasy involved in this, frankly,” he continued.  “That technology could exist. So, of course, when people see a little summary of the film, they think it’s a horror film, a supernatural film — you’re communicating with the dead. But to me, it’s a very realistic film. It’s not fantastic at all. You could easily make this happen.”

It’ll be curious whether critics take to “The Shrouds” as a horror film or something else after it premieres at Cannes on May 20. As for Cronenberg, he’s grateful to be at Cannes, a festival he’s had great success at, but he still finds its ceremonies “scary.” “It’s great, but I have reclusive tendencies,” admitted the director, “I don’t get out a lot.”  Cronenberg’s “Crash” won a Special Jury Prize at the 1996 festival, a “very unexpected” win after its screening inspired walkouts.  “Our understanding was that Francis Ford Coppola, who was president of the jury at the time, wasn’t really crazy about the film and wasn’t really in favor of giving me the Special Jury award,” said Cronenberg.  “But he was outvoted by enough of his jury. And that’s the way it goes. The president of the jury only has one vote, so you can’t really conclusively make the decision upon your own about which prizes go to which films.”

But “Crash” was ten films ago for Cronenberg: how will “The Shrouds” do in competition for the Palme d’Or this year?  At 81 years, Cronenberg isn’t primarily looking for more hardware, more enjoying his time on the Croisette as much as he can.  “Cannes is wonderful because the world comes to Cannes — the cinema world anyways — to see films in competition,” he said of the festival.  “It’s very exciting and it’s a lot of fun, but it can also be terrifying as a filmmaker because you want that spotlight. But then, when it’s on you, it’s pretty scary actually.”

As noted earlier, “The Shrouds” has its world premiere next week on May 20. Follow The Playlist’s coverage of the Cannes Film Festival for our review.