“Crimes of the Future” (Contributed Neon/Everett)

“Surgery is sex, isn’t it? Surgery is the new sex.”

Body horror. A grisly genre of horror that seeks to distort the human anatomy to its uttermost extremities. A plethora of filmmakers have made works in this subgenre, from prolific filmmaker Takashi Miike’s grisly 2001 adaptation of “Ichi the Killer” and John Carpenter’s 1982 classic “The Thing,” to most recently with Coralie Fargeat’s satirical take on the genre with “The Substance” – but there is one director who is a true innovator of the genre: Canadian filmmaker, David Cronenberg. In the wake of the recent release of his newest film, “The Shrouds,” I revisited Cronenberg’s return to the body horror genre he pioneered, “Crimes of the Future,” which premiered in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. I recently watched it with my partner, and it is a truly outstanding film. 

Set in a desolate future, “Crimes of the Future” focuses on Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), a performance artist struggling with Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, a disease resulting in his body rapidly developing new organs never before seen in humans.    

With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), who uses machinery as her paintbrush and Saul’s body as her canvas, the surgical removal of organs becomes the central piece of their performance. 

 After arriving at the National Organ Registry to register a newly developed organ in Saul, 

Saul and Caprice encounter Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an eccentric employee who speaks in a strange and quick tone and becomes fascinated with their performances.

At the same time this is going on, an individual named Lang (Scott Speedman), who is constantly chewing on mysterious purple candy bars, is consistently eyeing Saul and Caprice. 

Along with Lang, there is also Detective Cope (Welket Bungué), a detective with New Vice, who is investigating the underground performances and mysterious candy bars. Bungué, whose breakout performance was in the leading role of Francis in Burhan Qurbani’s 2020 adaptation of “Berlin Alexanderplatz,” is the highlight of several scenes in this supporting role – such as one moment where he questions Timlin and Wippet (Don McKellar), another employee with the National Organ Registry, about Saul’s organs and the tattooing done to them.   

Mortensen’s portrayal of Saul is a standout performance. Mortensen, who in recent years has become a frequent collaborator of Cronenberg (with this film being starkly different from one of his previous films, the 2007 gangster thriller “Eastern Promises”), drowns himself in the character of Saul Tenser. Through his portrayal of this performance artist, Mortensen’s raspy voice and expressions of pure pain while trying to digest food emphasize the toll the disease is taking on him.   

The film’s cast also includes Nadia Litz as Dani Router and Tanaya Beatty as Berst, two eccentric techs for LifeFormWare, the manufacturer of the equipment that Saul utilizes for his hormonal imbalance, along with helping him eat and digest food, with Berst discovering that Saul owns a Sark machine.

Marking his return to the horror genre since 1999’s “eXistenZ,” along with being his first feature-length work since 2014’s “Maps to the Stars,” David Cronenberg delivers a piece of pure body horror, with a shocking opening scene that sets the tone for the film. Cronenberg views human internal organs not with disgust, but with mere fascination, with the camera as his paintbrush and the body as his canvas. He also includes futuristic elements such as the H.R. Giger-esque designs of the LifeFormWare equipment, like the Sark machine, which is heavily utilized in Saul and Caprice’s performances.       

Cronenberg infuses allegorical themes with the representation of Saul’s body. and how he’s forcing himself to suffer through the inability to properly digest food instead of embracing his true self and body, along with the symbolism within the mysterious candy bar. 

Frequent collaborator Howard Shore composes a synth-heavy score, with pieces such as Body is Reality (which serves as a soundtrack for a performance by Saul and Caprice of the same name), drenched in layers of electronic and industrial sounds.

Cinematographer Douglas Koch captures a stark future in ruins, with several shots of dilapidated buildings painting a desolate landscape. Some of these shots include wide shots of Saul speaking to Cope at night near the coast. 

“Crimes of the Future” is a grimy and grisly picture, with allegorical elements infused with stunning special effects. It showcases that David Cronenberg remains one of horror’s greatest and most intriguing visionaries.

Surgery is the new sex. 

“Crimes of the Future” is available for purchase on Blu-ray and is streaming on Hulu.

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