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Crimes of the Future
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	David Cronenberg
Written by	David Cronenberg
Produced by	Robert Lantos
Starring	Viggo Mortensen Léa Seydoux Kristen Stewart
Cinematography	Douglas Koch
Edited by	Christopher Donaldson
Music by	Howard Shore
Production companies	Argonauts Productions S.A. Serendipity Point Films Davis Films Telefilm Canada Ingenious Media Bell Media CBC
Distributed by	Neon (United States) MK2/Mile End (Canada)
Release dates	May 23, 2022 (2022-05-23) (Cannes) May 25, 2022 (2022-05-25) (France) June 3, 2022 (2022-06-03) (United States)
Running time	107 minutes
Countries	Canada France United Kingdom Greece
Language	English

Crimes of the Future is a 2022 internationally co-produced body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart. The film premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it was in competition for the Palme d'Or and received a six-minute standing ovation. It marks Cronenberg's return to the science fiction and horror genres for the first time since eXistenZ (1999).

Plot

In a climate-ravaged future, a world renowned performance artist couple, Saul Tenser and Caprice, have an artistic practice involving the growth and removal of new organs onstage before a live audience. Their growing fame brings scrutiny from a team of investigators at the National Organ Registry, who are investigating the disease, "Accelerated Evolution Syndrome," that allows Saul to perform.

The film opens with a boy, Brecken, taking bites out of a plastic wastebasket, and his mother then smothering him with a pillow. The next scene shows Saul waking up in an organic seed pod called an OrchidBed, designed to anticipate and conform to the body’s every need. He also has a technological chair for eating and digesting food properly. But seemingly, Saul is noticeably weak and struggles to eat the food from that chair.

Thanks to the "Accelerated Evolution Syndrome," the human race is mutating (pain is disappearing), and "desktop surgery" is commonplace. Saul does his performance art in collaboration with his live-in partner, Caprice; they plan out each show as an act of medical-theatrical catharsis for the audience. During their performance, Saul lies on the operating table while Caprice, using a jellied control panel, uses a set of pincher-like skeletal arms to slice his abdomen open and pull out the new organ he has harvested.

Saul and Caprice are noticed by the National Organ Registry, which tracks new organ growths — it is run by Wippet, a bureaucrat, and Timlin, his timid assistant. Timlin becomes fascinated by Saul after watching one of his performances.

Another organization, this one having nothing to do with the film’s sinister government, is a cult of people who have undergone their own evolution, which results in their producing and eating what appear to be purple candy bars, which in actuality is plastic. There is also a nightclub with a dancer who has his eyes and lips sewn shut, and ears all over his body.

The corpse of the 8-year-old boy Brecken, from the opening scene is being presented by his father Lang to Saul and Caprice. His autopsy, graphically references his eating habits, bringing the film back to its starting concept.

In the final scene, Saul struggles to eat on the chair, he asks Caprice to give him a purple plastic bar to see if his body will accept it, Saul eats it. In the very final shot, Tenser looks into the camera that Caprice is recording and seemingly sheds a tear.

Cast

• Viggo Mortensen as Saul Tenser, a man who grows new organs inside of his body as part of "Accelerated Evolution Syndrome". He and his partner Caprice have turned the discovery and removal of these new body organs into performance art.
• Léa Seydoux as Caprice, Saul's partner who can observe and tattoo his organs in his personal operating theater.
• Kristen Stewart as Timlin, an investigator with the National Organ Registry who takes a particular interest in Saul.
• Don McKellar as Wippet, an investigator with the National Organ Registry.
• Scott Speedman as Lang Dotrice
• Welket Bungué as Detective Cope
• Lihi Kornowski as Djuna Dotrice
• Tanaya Beatty as Berst
• Yorgos Karamihos as Brent Boss
• Yorgos Pirpassopoulos as Dr. Nasatir
• Nadia Litz as Dani Router
• Sozos Sotiris as Brecken

Production

The film was a thriller set to begin production in early 2003 under the title Painkillers, which explored the world of performance art and took place in an anaesthetized society where pain is the new forbidden pleasure, and surgery and self-mutilation, being performed in public and on camera, have come to be regarded as the new sex. Ralph Fiennes was attached to star as Saul Tenser after Nicolas Cage, the first option for the main role, dropped out. It was intended to be shot in Toronto, Canada on a budget of $35 million. ThinkFilm had picked up worldwide rights, with a scheduled release for late 2006 in North America. However, the project never came through. In a mid-2000s interview, director David Cronenberg brushed the project aside, stating that it was not happening and that he had lost interest in making it anyway.

In February 2021, during a chat with GQ magazine, Viggo Mortensen revealed that he was working on a project with Cronenberg, saying: "Yes, we do have something in mind. It's something he wrote a long time ago, and he never got it made. Now he's refined it, and he wants to shoot it. Hopefully, it'll be this summer we'll be filming. I would say, without giving the story away, he's going maybe a little bit back to his origins". In April, Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart were among the cast announced for the film. Natalie Portman was initially supposed to play Seydoux's part (who was in turn up for Stewart's role), but she dropped out of the film because of conflicting schedules with Thor: Love and Thunder. In August 2021, Tanaya Beatty, Yorgos Karamihos, Nadia Litz and Yorgos Pirpassopoulos joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography began on August 2, 2021, and concluded on September 10, 2021, in Athens, Greece.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 41 reviews are positive for the film, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "Quintessential if not classic Cronenberg, Crimes of the Future finds the director revisiting familiar themes with typically unsettling flair". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 20 reviews, signifying "generally favorable reviews". David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of Mortensen and Seydoux but concluded that the film "offers up more mysteries than it solves." Tood McCarthy's review in Deadline describes the film as serious, elegant and provocative enough to cut it as an art film in the Cannes competition while also delivering the gross goods of body parts and exploitation film provocations. Not too many filmmakers can straddle the two, but Cronenberg still manages it pretty well.

References

1. Squires, John (February 1, 2020). "Viggo Mortensen Teases Upcoming Horror Project That'll Bring David Cronenberg "Back to His Origins"!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
2. "David Cronenberg's 'Crimes Of The Future' Nabs Six-Minute Standing Ovation At Cannes World Premiere". Deadline.
3. ^ "Surgery is the New Sex in the Trailer for David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future".
4. Harris, Dana; Dunkley, Cathy (May 20, 2002). "Cronenberg, Lantos king of 'Pain'". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2002.
5. Paiella, Gabriella (February 1, 2020). "Viggo Mortensen on Falling and the Time He Was Found in the Woods as a Baby". GQ. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
6. Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 29, 2021). "David Cronenberg Sets Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart For 'Crimes Of The Future;' NEON, Serendipity Point Firm Summer Start In Greece". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
7. D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 3, 2021). "Cameras Roll On David Cronenberg Sci-Fi 'Crimes Of The Future' With Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart; More Cast Join". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
8. Sharf, Zack (April 29, 2021). "David Cronenberg Returns: Sci-Fi Movie 'Crimes of the Future' Sets 30-Day Shoot in Greece". /Film. Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
9. Ravindan, Manori (August 3, 2021). "David Cronenberg's Sci-Fi Movie 'Crimes of the Future' Begins Production in Greece". Variety. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
10. "Crimes of the Future". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
11. "Crimes of the Future (2022) Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
12. Rooney, David (May 23, 2022). "Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux in David Cronenberg's 'Crimes of the Future': Film Review | Cannes 2022". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
13. McCarthy, Todd. "Cannes Review: David Cronenberg's 'Crimes Of The Future'". Deadline. Retrieved May 25, 2022.

External links

• Crimes of the Future at IMDb

• 2022 films
• Canadian films
• Canadian horror films
• Greek films
• Greek horror films
• French films
• French horror films
• English-language Canadian films
• English-language Greek films
• English-language French films
• Films directed by David Cronenberg
• Films scored by Howard Shore
• Neon (distributor) films
• Serendipity Point Films films
• Davis Films films
• Téléfilm Canada films
• Films shot in Athens
• Films shot in Greece
• 2022 horror films
• 2022 thriller films
• Canadian body horror films
• Canadian science fiction horror films
• French science fiction horror films