Crimes of the Future (2022 - Netflix BD Rental)

[SRW1000]

This is a David Cronenberg’s first movie in almost eight years, and despite it being the fourth time he’s worked with Viggo Mortensen it’s much closer in tone and story to his twisted works like Videodrome, Naked Lunch, eXistenZ, and The Fly than those gangster-themed movies, so be forewarned.  It is not a movie for the young or timid.

Taking place in the near future, some people have started to spontaneously evolve, quickly growing new organs.  At the same time, much of mankind has lost the ability to feel pain and have also become immune to bacterial infections, opening the door to a variety of bodily modifications.  This sets the stage for a meditation on performance art, government control, the merging of technology and biology, sex, and what it means to be human. 

The plot is secondary to the themes and visuals, with scenes that are often grotesque, provoking, repulsive, imaginative, and (very rarely) beautiful.  Cronenberg draws a detailed picture of a degraded, centerless society grappling with an uncertain future, and what art might look like in those times.  It’s a disturbing vision.  But when one considers how medical science is advancing and how some of today’s celebrities have achieved fame through bodily enhancement/mutilation, it’s not easy to dismiss outright.

Mortensen tends to mumble at times here, and the movie features a diverse cast, some with thick accents, both of which can be a challenge to understand.  The movie is played straight, although there are a few lighthearted moments, the overall tone is bleak.  The soundtrack was a simple 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix, but there was a good sense of envelopment, enhance by my HTP-1’s DTS Neural-X setting.  Howard Shore composed the music, and it’s a sparce but fitting score for this tale.

This isn’t a movie I can recommend to the average viewer.  If you’ve seen the earlier titles I mentioned, you’ll know the type of experience you’re walking into and how it’s just not something that will appeal to a broad audience.  I can easily imagine half the people turning it off before they hit the 30-minute mark.  But for those that aren’t automatically turned off by repulsive imagery, the movie does present a number of thought-provoking ideas to mull over.  If you’ve liked some of his earlier works, it’s certainly worth checking out.

Scott

[AVSCraig]

I love The Fly. Videodrome was bizarre. I might have to give this a shot.

[David Vaughn]

Scott,

Sounds interesting, but I don't think my wife would get through 15 minutes of it, let alone 30. Probably isn't my cup of tea either, but thanks for pointing it out. 

[SRW1000]

I love The Fly. Videodrome was bizarre. I might have to give this a shot.

This movie is much closer to Videodrome than The Fly, so keep that in mind.  The Fly had pretty wide appeal back when it was released, and Crimes is not like that in any way.

[SRW1000]

Scott,

Sounds interesting, but I don't think my wife would get through 15 minutes of it, let alone 30. Probably isn't my cup of tea either, but thanks for pointing it out.

No, I don't think something she'd have any tolerance for at all.  My wife watched the whole thing, but it would be a stretch to say she liked it.  I'm not even sure if I liked it, but it was interesting and unpredictable.

It's one of those movies that does get you to think about the underlying subject matter, but that's deeply cloaked behind the imagery.