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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 Ekome Natixis Coficiné
Distributed by	Sphere Films (Canada) Metropolitan Filmexport (France) Argonauts Distribution (Greece)
Release dates	May 23, 2022 (2022-05-23) (Cannes) May 25, 2022 (2022-05-25) (France) June 3, 2022 (2022-06-03) (Canada & U.S.)
Running time	107 minutes
Countries	Canada France United Kingdom Greece
Language	English
Box office	$3.2 million

Crimes of the Future is a 2022 science-fiction body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg, and starring Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart. Although it shares a title with Cronenberg's 1970 film of the same name, it is not a remake as the story and concept are unrelated. It marks Cronenberg's return to the science fiction and horror genres for the first time since eXistenZ (1999).

The film was an international co-production of Canadian, French, British and Greek companies. It 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 received a theatrical release in France on 25 May 2022, and opened in Canada on 3 June. It had a same day limited release in the United States. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

In an unspecified future, the disastrous effects of pollution and climate change have compelled the creation of significant advances in biotechnology, including the invention of machines and (analog) computers that can directly interface with and control bodily functions. At the same time, humankind itself has experienced a number of biological changes of indeterminate origin. Most significant among these changes is the disappearance of physical pain and infectious disease for an overwhelming majority (allowing for surgery to be safely performed on conscious people in ordinary settings), but other humans experience more radical alterations to their physiology. One of them, an eight-year-old boy named Brecken, displays the innate ability to consume and digest plastics as food. Convinced that he is inhuman, Brecken's mother smothers him with a pillow, leaving his corpse to be found by her ex-husband Lang.

Saul Tenser and Caprice are a world-renowned performance artist couple. They take advantage of Tenser's "accelerated evolution syndrome", a disorder that forces his body to constantly develop new vestigial organs, by surgically removing them before a live audience. The syndrome leaves Tenser in constant pain and with severe respiratory and digestive discomfort; he is consequently reliant on a number of specialized biomechanical devices, including a bed, a machine through which Caprice performs surgery on him, and a chair that assists him with eating. Tenser and Caprice meet with bureaucrats in charge of the National Organ Registry, a governmental office designed to uphold the state's restrictions on human evolution by cataloguing and storing newly evolved organs. One of the bureaucrats, the nervy Timlin, becomes captivated by Tenser's artistic goals. At a successful show of Tenser's, she tells him that "surgery is the new sex", a sentiment that Tenser appears to embrace.

A governmental police unit seeks to use Tenser to infiltrate a group of radical evolutionists. Without telling Caprice, Tenser meets a series of contacts through other biological performance art shows that lead him to the evolutionist cell. One of them, former cosmetic surgeon Nasatir, creates a zippered cavern in Tenser's stomach, which Caprice uses to access Tenser's organs in an oral sex act. Caprice continues to network with other performance artists, eventually choosing to receive decorative cosmetic surgery on her forehead.

Tenser meets with Timlin, who reveals to him the agenda of the evolutionists: they have chosen to modify their digestive system to make them able to eat plastics and other synthetic chemicals. Their principal food is a purple processed "candy bar" of toxic waste, fatally poisonous to others. Lang is the leader of the cell; his son Brecken had been born with the ability to eat plastic, proving the inaccuracy of the government's critical stance on human evolution. Timlin tries to initiate sex with Tenser, but he says he is not good at "the old kind of sex".

Tenser is eventually approached by Lang, who wants Tenser and Caprice to reveal the cell's anti-government agenda through a public autopsy of Brecken that will highlight his evolved digestive system. After some deliberation, Tenser agrees. With Timlin, Lang and many others watching, Tenser performs the autopsy, but it is revealed that his natural organ system has been surgically replaced. Lang flees the show in tears. Outside, he is approached by two agents who supposedly work for the corporation that manufactures Tenser's biomedical machines. Mimicking their earlier killing of Nasatir, they assassinate Lang by driving power drills into his head. Tenser's connection within the police unit admits that Timlin replaced Brecken's organs to keep the deviation in human evolution secret from the public. Saddened by Brecken and Lang's deaths, Tenser informs the police that he will no longer serve them, approvingly referencing the cell's beliefs on evolution.

Tenser struggles to eat in his chair. He asks Caprice to give him a bar of plastic. As Caprice records him, he eats it, looks into Caprice's camera and 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".
• Léa Seydoux as Caprice, Tenser's partner who can observe and tattoo his organs in his personal operating theatre.
• Kristen Stewart as Timlin, an investigator with the National Organ Registry who takes a particular interest in Tenser.
• 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
• Yorgos Karamihos as Brent Boss
• Yorgos Pirpassopoulos as Dr. Nasatir
• Nadia Litz as Dani Router
• Tanaya Beatty as Berst
• Denise Capezza as Odile
• Sozos Sotiris as Brecken Dotrice
• Ephie Kantza as Adrienne Berseau
• Tassos Karahalios as Klinek
• Jason Bitter as Tarr
• Penelope Tsilika as Spa Woman

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 entered production. 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 initially was set to play Stewart's role), but she was unable to do the film because of conflicts related to COVID-19. 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

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film earned $1.1 million from 773 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing tenth at the box office. It dropped out of the box office top ten in its second weekend with $374,131.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 79% of 194 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.5/10. 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 65 out of 100, based on 49 reviews, indicating "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." Todd 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. "TIFF, Sphere Films, and Serendipity Point Films to host the North American premiere of David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future, starring Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Scott Speedman, on May 30". TIFF. May 17, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
2. "Crimes of the Future". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
3. "Crimes of the Future". The Numbers. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
4. 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.
5. "Crimes Of The Future". Roger Ebert. June 6, 2022.
6. "David Cronenberg's 'Crimes Of The Future' Nabs Six-Minute Standing Ovation At Cannes World Premiere". Deadline. May 23, 2022.
7. ^ "Crimes of the Future". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
8. ^ "Crimes of the Future (2022) Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
9. ^ "Surgery is the New Sex in the Trailer for David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future".
10. Harris, Dana; Dunkley, Cathy (May 20, 2002). "Cronenberg, Lantos king of 'Pain'". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2002.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. "Ντέιβιντ Κρόνενμπεργκ: Ο άνθρωπος που είχε "δει" την πανδημία από τη δεκαετία του '70 γυρίζει ταινία στην Αθήνα". May 26, 2021.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 22". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
18. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 23". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
19. 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.
20. McCarthy, Todd (May 23, 2022). "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 horror films
• Greek horror 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
• 2022 horror films
• 2022 thriller films
• Canadian body horror films
• Canadian science fiction horror films
• French science fiction horror films