With a back catalogue like David Cronenberg’s, you’d think he may have less to say in modern cinema…think again.
The always innovative Cronenberg is back with the weird and compelling Crimes of the Future.
Once again he feels ahead of the curve with an exploration of a dystopian future where we explore what could be the next evolution of the human race.
He creates a fully immersive and downtrodden with a bleak colour pallette that feels in-tune with the Blade Runner series.
Many questions are posed, how do regular humans react to this new evolution? will this new breed of human become the dominant race and will those with money look to weaponize it?
Viggo Mortensen leads the cast as Saul, a man struggling with the transition into a more synthetic being. It is a restrained performance, and really shows someone struggling with their own mortality, especially in this ever-changing world.
The key to understanding this new ‘race’ may lie with a child who we see eating a plastic bin during the opening of the film. Less said of what becomes of him, which is one of the most harrowing scenes of recent years.
Kristen Stewart is dependable, as the impulsive Timlin, a doctor with an unquenchable desire to understand this new evolution.
While this may not hit the heights of efforts such as The Fly, The Dead Zone or Videodrome, but this is arguably Cronenberg’s best film of the past 20 years and was rightly considered in the conversation for the Oscars.
It won’t be for everyone, but that is true of a number of his films.
Crimes of the Future is available now on VOD and DVD.
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