Crimes of the Future Review: David Cronenberg’s Grotesque Misfire

Canadian auteur David Cronenberg’s return to the body horror genre created an uproar at its Cannes Film Festival premiere. Crimes of the Future had some audience members walking out in revulsion and disgust. The film fetishizes mutilation in a grotesque dystopian future where humanity has lost the ability to feel pain. Surgery becomes intimacy as a select few can grow new organs. Cronenberg has a salient point to make. The problem is that a fractured narrative and logical misfires cloud his objective. The gruesome imagery and rampant nudity are just stomach-churning distractions to a surprisingly dull script.

Viggo Mortensen stars as Saul Tenser, a performance artist whose body continually grows new internal organs. His lover and partner, Caprice (Léa Seydoux), removes the organs using bone-like surgical apparatus in front of a devoted following. Tenser, dressed head to toe in black to “stay warm”, registers his new parts with a secret government agency. The National Organ Registry tattoos and catalogs the organs. Its two employees, Wippet (Don McKellar) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart) are enamored by Tenser’s extraordinary biological prowess.

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The plot centers around a truly unique boy, Brecken (Sozos Sotiris). His father, Lang Dotrice (Scott Speedman), worships at the altar of Saul Tenser. He leads a cult that embraces rapid human evolution. Detective Cope (Welket Bungué) wants to find and stop these people. Both men see Saul Tenser as the most important tool to validate their beliefs.

A Graphic and Extreme Film

Crimes of the Future lives up to its graphic expectations. It is an extreme film and not remotely for the squeamish or faint of heart. Cronenberg realistically depicts surgical procedures. The characters, who can’t feel pain, are aroused by cutting, piercing, and suturing. They wear scars proudly as a status symbol. The film isn’t excessively bloody but relishes the hedonistic carnage. I honestly laughed out loud at several character reactions. They gasp and moan like garish adult film actors.

Cronenberg (The Fly, eXistenZ) stays true to form with his use of technology. He eschews anything sleek, brightly lit, or overtly mechanical. Computers are squishy brains with ominous lights. There’s a subplot of fawning technicians who service Tenser’s various devices. He eats and sleeps in hideous contraptions with fleshy umbilical attachments. The exhibition theaters are grimy warehouses littered with old televisions. The National Organ Registry’s office looks like it was firebombed. The production design and dismal Greek settings are the most intriguing aspects of the film.

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Hollow Quest for Meaning

NEON

Tenser and Caprice banter incessantly about the important nature of their work. Punctuated by scenes of naked bloodletting and wound licking. Their quest for meaning through disfigurement and removal rings hollow. Why not burn your skin or cut off your nose? The convention of beauty doesn’t actually change here. The film is loaded with full-frontal female nudity. It never deviates from traditional modern standards of attractiveness. There’s not an ounce of fat, stretch marks, or acne on their toned bodies. Hearts flutter before the knives are brought out. The surgery fixation might have been believable if every female character wasn’t a model. I guess there’s no obese organ fetishist in the “search for pain” future.

Cronenberg and Mortensen push boundaries but aren’t successful in their latest collaboration. A History of Violence and Eastern Promises were well-written films with compelling characters. Crimes of the Future drags considerably with poor cohesion and satire. The gross-out elements get headlines. Its message about man biologically evolving with our synthetic environment falls flat.

Crimes of the Future includes child nudity and autopsies. It is exclusively meant for mature audiences. Crimes of the Future is a production of Argonauts Productions S.A., Serendipity Point Films, Davis Films, Telefilm Canada, Ingenious Media, Bell Media, and CBC. It will be released theatrically on June 3rd from NEON.

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Julian Roman
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Julian Roman has been with Movieweb for nearly twenty years. An avid film buff, he feels lucky to have interviewed and written extensively about Hollywood’s greatest talents. In his spare time he plays guitar, treasures good company, and always seeks new adventures.

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