In a set-up that’s kind of like “The White Lotus” meets body horror, “Infinity Pool” opens at an exclusive resort in a fictional country. Author James Foster (Alexander Skarsgard) is looking for inspiration while his partner Em (Cleopatra Coleman) tries to support the writer’s block that has led to no new books in six years. When a beautiful young woman named Gabi (Mia Goth, phenomenal again) approaches James and tells him that she’s a fan, he’s instantly captivated. He convinces Em to go off the resort grounds with Gabi and her partner Alban (Jalil Lespert), even though that’s against the rules. After a night of drinking, James gets into an accident on the way home, which leads to the death of a local man.
All four travelers are taken in by ominous authorities, led by a perfectly refined Thomas Kretschmann as Thresh. He explains to James that the country they’re in has a very explicit policy: murder must be avenged by the son of the victim. However, this country also has a way out, a cloning process for the extremely wealthy that will create another James to be murdered while the original one watches. It’s a fantastic concept, one that comments on how the uber-rich can pay their way out of anything while also asking what it would do to a person if they watched their own murder.
What it does to James and all the other rich people at the resort is to essentially remove any sort of moral compass. If there’s no consequence, why not steal, screw, and murder your way through a hedonistic lifestyle? As Em looks on in horror, Gabi basically pulls James into a world of unadulterated pleasure and violence as Cronenberg seems to be suggesting that it is only our fear of repercussion that keeps us from indulging in every possible pain and pleasure. The travelers wear local masks that look like deformed faces, which allows even more anonymity. And then there’s the ultimate question that would nag at a person—what if the clone was actually the original and you’re no longer even the first version of yourself? Someone refers to these people as zombies, and they have a similar amorality.
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