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The Advertiser
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Cronenberg might be the king of shock but this left me a little cold
The Shrouds MA15+, 119 minutes 3 stars Be warned: this is not a film for all tastes. Canadian writer-director David Cronenberg, now in his 80s, has become indelibly associated with body horror - where the physical form is mutilated, infected, or otherwise treated badly. He's occasionally dabbled in somewhat more conventional fare but it's things like the exploding heads in Scanners and the grotesque transformation in The Fly that spring to mind when his name is mentioned. This film is no exception. The Shrouds has a poignant origin. Cronenberg's wife of more than 40 years, Carolyn, died several years ago from cancer at the age of 66 and he poured some of his grief and devastation into this film. But it's by no means a sentimental wallow. Like many Cronenberg films, it is cool and concerned with ideas as well as characters and story, perhaps easier to admire and think about and discuss than enjoy. Karsh (played by Vincent Cassel, styled to look rather like Cronenberg), a former industrial filmmaker, now has a restaurant, the unique selling point of which is that it's in a cemetery he runs. But it's not just any cemetery. When his wife Becca (Diane Kruger) died a few years earlier from cancer, the grief-stricken Karsh invented Gravetech. It's a technology allowing people to monitor the decay of their deceased loved ones in their graves via specially devised shrouds in which they are contained. The 3D images are live and interactive. It's certainly one way of maintaining a connection with a loved one. Karsh has a grave beside his wife's for when his time comes (I don't think mention is made of who might monitor that). Not surprisingly, this invention has been controversial and makes some uncomfortable. However, people have taken it up and national and international expansion plans are in progress. There's an awkwardly funny scene where Karsh demonstrates Gravetech to a woman while on a blind date their common dentist arranged. She is not seen again. While his dating conversation might need work, Karsh does eventually meet someone, Soo-Yin (Sandrine Holt). She's blind, meaning she can't see the decaying corpses, which might help. Besides monitoring his wife's decay on Gravetech, and conversing with the AI avatar Hunny (voiced by Kruger), Karsh also maintains a connection of sorts through his friendship with Becca's identical sister, Terry (Diane Kruger). His subconscious is haunted by dreams in which Becca comes home to him disfigured and depleted from cancer treatments administered by her oncologist (who's also her ex-lover). There's some very Cronenbergian imagery here. One night, some of the graves including his wife's are vandalised and hackers disrupt the network so the graves cannot be viewed. Both for business and personal reasons, Karsh wants to find out who did this. He calls on Terry's ex-husband Maury (Guy Pearce), who had coded the system's security, to investigate. The character relationships are a bit complicated to unravel and some of the dialogue Cronenberg has written to clarify this comes off as a bit clumsy. Still, it does the job. While Cronenberg is associated with horror, a lot of the time is spent, here as elsewhere, with characters talking, often in subdued fashion. Patience and attention are required. Having begun with a science fiction/technology premise permeated by grief and loss, the film moves into conspiracy territory as Maury and Karsh look into the damage that's been done. Who's behind the sabotage and vandalism? What are the strange protrusions that are manifesting themselves on the corpses? It's intellectually interesting but a little emotionally arid, despite the film's very personal inspiration. Cronenberg to me is rather a cold and distant filmmaker, like the late Stanley Kubrick. But while Kubrick put his characters into a petri dish and observed them through a microscope, Cronenberg is more likely to dissect them. That said, it's impressive that Cronenberg has been able to maintain a long career mostly making original and provocative movies. The Shrouds MA15+, 119 minutes 3 stars Be warned: this is not a film for all tastes. Canadian writer-director David Cronenberg, now in his 80s, has become indelibly associated with body horror - where the physical form is mutilated, infected, or otherwise treated badly. He's occasionally dabbled in somewhat more conventional fare but it's things like the exploding heads in Scanners and the grotesque transformation in The Fly that spring to mind when his name is mentioned. This film is no exception. The Shrouds has a poignant origin. Cronenberg's wife of more than 40 years, Carolyn, died several years ago from cancer at the age of 66 and he poured some of his grief and devastation into this film. But it's by no means a sentimental wallow. Like many Cronenberg films, it is cool and concerned with ideas as well as characters and story, perhaps easier to admire and think about and discuss than enjoy. Karsh (played by Vincent Cassel, styled to look rather like Cronenberg), a former industrial filmmaker, now has a restaurant, the unique selling point of which is that it's in a cemetery he runs. But it's not just any cemetery. When his wife Becca (Diane Kruger) died a few years earlier from cancer, the grief-stricken Karsh invented Gravetech. It's a technology allowing people to monitor the decay of their deceased loved ones in their graves via specially devised shrouds in which they are contained. The 3D images are live and interactive. It's certainly one way of maintaining a connection with a loved one. Karsh has a grave beside his wife's for when his time comes (I don't think mention is made of who might monitor that). Not surprisingly, this invention has been controversial and makes some uncomfortable. However, people have taken it up and national and international expansion plans are in progress. There's an awkwardly funny scene where Karsh demonstrates Gravetech to a woman while on a blind date their common dentist arranged. She is not seen again. While his dating conversation might need work, Karsh does eventually meet someone, Soo-Yin (Sandrine Holt). She's blind, meaning she can't see the decaying corpses, which might help. Besides monitoring his wife's decay on Gravetech, and conversing with the AI avatar Hunny (voiced by Kruger), Karsh also maintains a connection of sorts through his friendship with Becca's identical sister, Terry (Diane Kruger). His subconscious is haunted by dreams in which Becca comes home to him disfigured and depleted from cancer treatments administered by her oncologist (who's also her ex-lover). There's some very Cronenbergian imagery here. One night, some of the graves including his wife's are vandalised and hackers disrupt the network so the graves cannot be viewed. Both for business and personal reasons, Karsh wants to find out who did this. He calls on Terry's ex-husband Maury (Guy Pearce), who had coded the system's security, to investigate. The character relationships are a bit complicated to unravel and some of the dialogue Cronenberg has written to clarify this comes off as a bit clumsy. Still, it does the job. While Cronenberg is associated with horror, a lot of the time is spent, here as elsewhere, with characters talking, often in subdued fashion. Patience and attention are required. Having begun with a science fiction/technology premise permeated by grief and loss, the film moves into conspiracy territory as Maury and Karsh look into the damage that's been done. Who's behind the sabotage and vandalism? What are the strange protrusions that are manifesting themselves on the corpses? It's intellectually interesting but a little emotionally arid, despite the film's very personal inspiration. Cronenberg to me is rather a cold and distant filmmaker, like the late Stanley Kubrick. But while Kubrick put his characters into a petri dish and observed them through a microscope, Cronenberg is more likely to dissect them. That said, it's impressive that Cronenberg has been able to maintain a long career mostly making original and provocative movies. The Shrouds MA15+, 119 minutes 3 stars Be warned: this is not a film for all tastes. Canadian writer-director David Cronenberg, now in his 80s, has become indelibly associated with body horror - where the physical form is mutilated, infected, or otherwise treated badly. He's occasionally dabbled in somewhat more conventional fare but it's things like the exploding heads in Scanners and the grotesque transformation in The Fly that spring to mind when his name is mentioned. This film is no exception. The Shrouds has a poignant origin. Cronenberg's wife of more than 40 years, Carolyn, died several years ago from cancer at the age of 66 and he poured some of his grief and devastation into this film. But it's by no means a sentimental wallow. Like many Cronenberg films, it is cool and concerned with ideas as well as characters and story, perhaps easier to admire and think about and discuss than enjoy. Karsh (played by Vincent Cassel, styled to look rather like Cronenberg), a former industrial filmmaker, now has a restaurant, the unique selling point of which is that it's in a cemetery he runs. But it's not just any cemetery. When his wife Becca (Diane Kruger) died a few years earlier from cancer, the grief-stricken Karsh invented Gravetech. It's a technology allowing people to monitor the decay of their deceased loved ones in their graves via specially devised shrouds in which they are contained. The 3D images are live and interactive. It's certainly one way of maintaining a connection with a loved one. Karsh has a grave beside his wife's for when his time comes (I don't think mention is made of who might monitor that). Not surprisingly, this invention has been controversial and makes some uncomfortable. However, people have taken it up and national and international expansion plans are in progress. There's an awkwardly funny scene where Karsh demonstrates Gravetech to a woman while on a blind date their common dentist arranged. She is not seen again. While his dating conversation might need work, Karsh does eventually meet someone, Soo-Yin (Sandrine Holt). She's blind, meaning she can't see the decaying corpses, which might help. Besides monitoring his wife's decay on Gravetech, and conversing with the AI avatar Hunny (voiced by Kruger), Karsh also maintains a connection of sorts through his friendship with Becca's identical sister, Terry (Diane Kruger). His subconscious is haunted by dreams in which Becca comes home to him disfigured and depleted from cancer treatments administered by her oncologist (who's also her ex-lover). There's some very Cronenbergian imagery here. One night, some of the graves including his wife's are vandalised and hackers disrupt the network so the graves cannot be viewed. Both for business and personal reasons, Karsh wants to find out who did this. He calls on Terry's ex-husband Maury (Guy Pearce), who had coded the system's security, to investigate. The character relationships are a bit complicated to unravel and some of the dialogue Cronenberg has written to clarify this comes off as a bit clumsy. Still, it does the job. While Cronenberg is associated with horror, a lot of the time is spent, here as elsewhere, with characters talking, often in subdued fashion. Patience and attention are required. Having begun with a science fiction/technology premise permeated by grief and loss, the film moves into conspiracy territory as Maury and Karsh look into the damage that's been done. Who's behind the sabotage and vandalism? What are the strange protrusions that are manifesting themselves on the corpses? It's intellectually interesting but a little emotionally arid, despite the film's very personal inspiration. Cronenberg to me is rather a cold and distant filmmaker, like the late Stanley Kubrick. But while Kubrick put his characters into a petri dish and observed them through a microscope, Cronenberg is more likely to dissect them. That said, it's impressive that Cronenberg has been able to maintain a long career mostly making original and provocative movies. The Shrouds MA15+, 119 minutes 3 stars Be warned: this is not a film for all tastes. Canadian writer-director David Cronenberg, now in his 80s, has become indelibly associated with body horror - where the physical form is mutilated, infected, or otherwise treated badly. He's occasionally dabbled in somewhat more conventional fare but it's things like the exploding heads in Scanners and the grotesque transformation in The Fly that spring to mind when his name is mentioned. This film is no exception. The Shrouds has a poignant origin. Cronenberg's wife of more than 40 years, Carolyn, died several years ago from cancer at the age of 66 and he poured some of his grief and devastation into this film. But it's by no means a sentimental wallow. Like many Cronenberg films, it is cool and concerned with ideas as well as characters and story, perhaps easier to admire and think about and discuss than enjoy. Karsh (played by Vincent Cassel, styled to look rather like Cronenberg), a former industrial filmmaker, now has a restaurant, the unique selling point of which is that it's in a cemetery he runs. But it's not just any cemetery. When his wife Becca (Diane Kruger) died a few years earlier from cancer, the grief-stricken Karsh invented Gravetech. It's a technology allowing people to monitor the decay of their deceased loved ones in their graves via specially devised shrouds in which they are contained. The 3D images are live and interactive. It's certainly one way of maintaining a connection with a loved one. Karsh has a grave beside his wife's for when his time comes (I don't think mention is made of who might monitor that). Not surprisingly, this invention has been controversial and makes some uncomfortable. However, people have taken it up and national and international expansion plans are in progress. There's an awkwardly funny scene where Karsh demonstrates Gravetech to a woman while on a blind date their common dentist arranged. She is not seen again. While his dating conversation might need work, Karsh does eventually meet someone, Soo-Yin (Sandrine Holt). She's blind, meaning she can't see the decaying corpses, which might help. Besides monitoring his wife's decay on Gravetech, and conversing with the AI avatar Hunny (voiced by Kruger), Karsh also maintains a connection of sorts through his friendship with Becca's identical sister, Terry (Diane Kruger). His subconscious is haunted by dreams in which Becca comes home to him disfigured and depleted from cancer treatments administered by her oncologist (who's also her ex-lover). There's some very Cronenbergian imagery here. One night, some of the graves including his wife's are vandalised and hackers disrupt the network so the graves cannot be viewed. Both for business and personal reasons, Karsh wants to find out who did this. He calls on Terry's ex-husband Maury (Guy Pearce), who had coded the system's security, to investigate. The character relationships are a bit complicated to unravel and some of the dialogue Cronenberg has written to clarify this comes off as a bit clumsy. Still, it does the job. While Cronenberg is associated with horror, a lot of the time is spent, here as elsewhere, with characters talking, often in subdued fashion. Patience and attention are required. Having begun with a science fiction/technology premise permeated by grief and loss, the film moves into conspiracy territory as Maury and Karsh look into the damage that's been done. Who's behind the sabotage and vandalism? What are the strange protrusions that are manifesting themselves on the corpses? It's intellectually interesting but a little emotionally arid, despite the film's very personal inspiration. Cronenberg to me is rather a cold and distant filmmaker, like the late Stanley Kubrick. But while Kubrick put his characters into a petri dish and observed them through a microscope, Cronenberg is more likely to dissect them. That said, it's impressive that Cronenberg has been able to maintain a long career mostly making original and provocative movies.
Los Angeles Times
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
For a mogul who can't accept the end, a high-tech tomb becomes a portal in ‘The Shrouds'
Taking in a new David Cronenberg film occasionally evokes the strangeness of a beloved cat bringing a fresh kill to your door: It's somehow unsettling and affecting, a horror yet a gift, and decidedly weird but also sad and even funny. The subjects of grief and biotechnology in the macabre Canadian's latest offering, 'The Shrouds,' are also known to call up a host of conflicting feelings. Is it any wonder, then, that in the hands of a fearlessly surgical provocateur with bereavement on his mind after the death of his wife of 43 years, these interlinked topics have sparked another cool, cunning, disquieting work about our ceaseless fascination with what the body betrays? If this ends up being Cronenberg's last, he'll have gone out with a worldly, weighty epitaph. As beginnings go, the filmmaker offers up a hilarious theme-setting blind date that even a premier satirist like George Saunders would envy. 'How dark are you willing to go?' widowed entrepreneur Karsh (a weary, distinguished Vincent Cassel) asks his elegant also-widowed companion (Jennifer Dale) when she expresses curiosity about his work. (As if eating in a restaurant at a place he owns called Gravetech isn't the first clue about his headspace.) With clinical enthusiasm, Karsh shows her his multimillion-dollar coping mechanism: a tastefully manicured cemetery of human-height tombstones with screens that allow deep-pocket mourners, via a specially encrypted app, to watch in real time, and from any angle, the decaying corpse of their buried loved ones. Karsh cues up his wife, Becca, for viewing (surveilling?) and the look on his date's face says it all: worst dinner-and-a-movie ever. Karsh's obsession — with his wife's decomposition and growing his business — is real, so much so that when he notices unusual nodes inside Becca's zoomed-in skull and his cemetery is vandalized in what feels like a targeted act, he wants answers. Becca's surviving twin sister, Terry (a dual-role Diane Kruger), a committed skeptic, suspects the nodes are tracking devices and that Becca's experimental cancer treatment wasn't on the up and up. Hashing things out with his tech wizard brother-in-law Maury (a shaggy Guy Pearce), Karsh wonders if ecological protesters or religious groups or competitors are upset with his global expansion plans, which include a lava field in Iceland. Meanwhile, a rich, dying Hungarian investor's blind, sexy wife (Sandrine Holt), whom Karsh starts an affair with, hints that the Russians or the Chinese might see potential in hacking Gravetech's network of grievers. Ashes to ashes, data to data? Leave it to our preeminent corporeal-fusion fantasist ('The Fly,' 'Videodrome,' 'Crash,' 'eXistenZ') to envision a near-future 21st-century vision of techno-intrigue that, in conjunction with lifestyle enhancements we already have — biotech devices, Karsh's self-driving car and AI avatar assistant — feels closer to reality than Cronenberg's ever imagined before. So much of what he's explored on screen has come true: Everything is a creative convenience, a threat and a turn-on. And there, like an old friend, is Cronenberg's regular composer Howard Shore with a synth moan to keep the mood unnerving. 'The Shrouds' may sound like a thriller (death, theft, espionage) but its sleek, icy allure is in presenting Karsh as a pawn to the rabbit hole of his grief, which plays out across the film in speculative, increasingly intimate conversations and erotic detours, including a ghostly replaying of nude bedroom scenes with the cancer-ridden Becca. We're always reminded that the body is a temple, a vessel. But leave it to Cronenberg to also note that in our darkest moments, the body most often feels like a conspiracy.
