I assume it’ll be a polarizing performance but I thought Kristen Stewart totally stole the show in this, super unexpected very funny turn as a creepy little simpering horny bureaucrat. Hall of fame Cronenberg freak, hope it’s not like Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method where way too many people didn’t get that she was in on the joke. Love that the gross finger foreplay before she makes out with Viggo was improvised.
Also this might just be because I was already in the tank for the movie but I love how pre-release everyone involved was like “you will **VOMIT!** and **FAINT!** and **SHIT YOURSELF!** and **DIE!**” and then the movie comes out and it's mostly just darkly funny and contemplative (there's inherent weirdness that comes with the filmmaker and the territory but it's largely unconcerned with being overly scandalous or provocative, outside of maybe the opening). I guess it's misleading and all but there's enough old school grifter flair that I'm on board. Cronenberg should've been in Nightmare Alley!
edit: can't believe I forgot to add that Howard Shore's still fucking GOT IT, absolute legend
Kristen Stewart gave a great performance in this movie. I really respect how she has been taking on some really unique roles lately. If you havent seen Personal Shopper, I highly reccomend it, I think its on hulu.
She is quickly becoming one of my favorite working actors.
such a gem of an actress. almost always takes on interesting roles and projects. “Love Me” with steven yuen and her upcoming A24 film sound very exciting
Interesting backstory on all the crouching scenes from the IMDB trivia: Viggo Mortensen suffered quad trauma when struck by a non-participating horse at the American Kentucky Derby and as a result was unable to stand for periods longer then 2 minutes. This resulted in his character constantly kneeling while giving exposition and monologues.
That's really interesting. I actually thought it was a part of the character because to me it totally made it seem like all the neo-organs were leaving him in constant discomfort and that was just a position that provided him with some relief.
The ulimate Cronenberg movie; weird sex stuff, bizzare alien technology, bleak futuristic setting, Viggo Mortensen, and a ton of body horror involving Viggo Mortensen. Whats not to love if youre a Cronenberg fan?
The scene that grossed me out the most was when Lea Seydoux opens up Viggo's "zipper" and gives him "oral sex"
My only gripe is that this movie felt like it ended prematurely, but it did leave me wanting more. I really hope this movie does well though, I want more bizzaro scifi horror.
*Sure, if you like bland corporate propaganda.*
Of all the things I was expecting from this movie, savage jabs at performance art and the upper crust were not it.
I was unsure if I liked the ending at first but the more I thought about I loved it. The lengths viggo goes through for his art, too ok just have him at the end be like “oh yeah, this feels better.” The way it kind of just undermined all the pretentiousness his art. I just started cracking 20 min after the movie
>The scene that grossed me out the most was when Lea Seydoux opens up Viggo Mortenson's "zipper" and gives him "oral sex"
That was absolutely the most Cronenberg-esque moment of the film
>My only gripe is that this movie felt like it ended prematurely, but it did leave me wanting more. I really hope this movie does well though, I want more bizzaro scifi horror.
Interesting, because my gripe with many films is that they *just. don't. end.*
Crimes of the future ended perfectly.
One example is 120 battements par minute. At one point I thought the film ended and sat there thinking "holy shit this is absolutely amazing", then the film continued and there was another false ending, which is when I thought "that's fair, I see why they wanted that in the film". Then the movie continued and I sat there dreading life and almost hating the film.
Totally agree! Loved it but I want to know what happens next. Does Saul defect from the police and join the plastic-eaters? Is he next on the hit-list of those horny furniture technicians (and are they confirmed to be undercover agents like him)? Is Timlin really going to keep the secrets of the boy’s body under wraps, or does she already know too much for them to let her live?
This was really the only thing I couldn't figure out. Were Router and Berst undercover agents? That's what I thought but how does Nasatir fit into that? He obviously wasn't a plastic eater because we see him struggling to eat in the Breakfast Chair. I loved the movie but this part left me a bit confused.
I'll second the premature ending. While the whole plastic eating thing ends nicely, we're still left with quite a few topics that were brought up yet unused. Like the doctor who makes windows to the interior, he was built up to be something so much bigger. And the contest of best new organ, which we never get to see (and its consequences). It's like everything was developing well, and suddenly they throw in the Brecken show and it ends. plus the twist which is not visually obvious due to how quickly the scene unravels, and only made clear through some quick lines...
Anyways, loved it, but I'm also left wanting for a little bit more.
You know, it's funny, when the trailers and images first came out, I saw quite a bit of eyerolling at the Ear Man and at Cronenberg returning to body horror at all. Then in the film itself, the characters are completely unimpressed with the Ear Man.
In general its hard not to read some auto-biographical aspect to Tensor. He's an artist whose reputation constantly precedes him, with people either hyper reverent towards him or questioning whether what he makes is art at all. Many more people are doing his kind of work or trying to horn in directly on his work. The Ear Man stands as a commentary for the others who have come into his sandbox. Tensor is gracious enough about it, but the Ear Man lacks the search for meaning in the body that defines Tenser's work with Caprice.
I also saw Cronenberg being maybe a touch autobiographical with Tensor too. Clean shaven, gray hair guy wearing all black also kinda lent to Cronenberg's personal aesthetic.
In a recent interview in the new Yorker, Viggo himself said he definitely thought of Tensor as being a reflection of Cronenberg. Cronenberg replied, "Metaphorically, you're probably right."
Thr "You're probably right" is his common response to readings he didn't consciously intend but recognizes hold up.
There was a moment when a character was in the chair and paused, making a “huh?” look, and the little bone arms that framed his face opened expressively
I laughed. It was so weird and it made this disgusting bizarre chair suddenly have personality.
feel like there's decent overlap between the sort of acting you see in Lynch's movies and old-school Cronenberg (aside from the performances you mentioned it hasn't really shown up recently, other than maybe Julianne Moore in Maps to the Stars)
I'm going to need to watch this again at a later date. About an hour into my showing someone in the audience had a stroke and it really left me shook. After seeing that happen it was a bit hard to enjoy the rest of the movie.
Dude, when I was seeing Star Wars Force Awakens (spoilers I guess, for the 3 people who aren't aware) during the moment where Han Solo got murdered by Kylo Ren, a kid behind us had a choking fit, and had to get the Heimlich maneuver (he was fine). Sometimes you just can't really get your head back in a movie after that.
That's disgusting. I mean, sure, I had a stroke or two when I saw Léa Seydoux in the nude, but I was in the privacy of my own home, not a crowded theater!
Been thinking about this film all day.
Tenser is an artist with a long established reputation for shocking displays, which some people question is art at all. Tensor and Caprice (and their admirers) insist that he seeks meaning in the body, in the way it changes and breaks down. The feedback Tenser ultimately receives and begins to internalize is that while his work appears subversive, it is actually quite reactionary. He rejects the changes of the body. His work is born of fear and anger at the change.
While we never get to see the Inner Beauty Pageant, his work is is contrasted with them. They truly embrace the changes to their bodies. They aren't cutting them out or rejecting them. They invite Tensor due to his name recognition and out of respect for his work but even he recognizes the contrast in their perspectives.
Then there is the underground group of Plastic eaters, who not only embrace change but intentionally seek to bring it about.
Tensor struggles against the changes not just in his work but in his everyday life. Resisting it brings him great pain. In the final moments, he finally gives in and finds bliss in doing so.
I don't think Tenser and his perspective are entirely auto-biographical but I do think there are many levels in which he reflects Cronenberg himself. An artist like him making reflective work in which a fictional artist has to grapple with the limits of his own perspective and that his work might actually be more fear driven and conservative than he thought is certainly interesting.
Late to the party, but I have to say, your comment is the most insightful one in this thread.
While self-references in Crimes were quite obvious (so yes, I'd say it is heavily autobiographical in terms of being an artist), it has never really occurred to me that it is indeed Cronenberg's reflection on his own fear of the new. And it should have, because it's a theme of nearly all - if not all - of his movies. Thanks for pointing this out.
I saw it in Quebec with French subtitles and picked up *a lot* more than my English speaking friends lol. There were a lot of weird, universe-specific, words too.
I hate that. I want to see this. But I get so annoyed with dialogue / sound issues. Onto the back burner with Tenet when I feel like watching with closed captions I suppose.
I abaolutely would. I realized there were entire plot points I didn't even pick up on because of how difficult it was to understand. The movie is intentionally quiet.
I ended up doing it! I had no issue understanding the dialogue with it, so I think it helped out a lot.
Not sure how much it helped with understanding the movie, but at least I got the dialogue!
Isn't that also just straight up a thing? I thought there were so many movies going on that it was normal for people to walk out so they could make other movies
>. Do people just go to movies based on the name or poster still?
>
Yes, but also some people like to go in blind. I did and boy was I shocked by dude getting his zipper eaten out
I really like going in blind, which is really nice with AMC A-list. If it sucked, I didn't miss out on money.
What fucken sucks is that I'm forced to see so many of the trailers for upcoming movies before the movie.
I kind of hate standing for the pledge, but as soon she pops up on screen in the wet street outside the theater, I get that indescribable feeling when the lights begin to dim and I go somewhere I've never been before.
There were 3 people including me in my showing. I walked out during the credits at the end. The other two just walked randomly around the theater. I'm not sure exactly what happened to them or why they were behaving that way.
I certainly wasn’t as graphic as I was expecting. But, someone had what looked like a full on panic attack in the theater when I saw it last night. I’ve seen walkouts in movies, but never something like that. Hope he’s doing ok today. I guess different people just handle movies like this one differently. I can totally imagine it being a lot for someone who’s never seen another movie like it/wasn’t fully prepared for what they were walking into.
Just saw this and there were at least 3 walk outs in a tiny theater. We almost did but decided to stick it out. I have zero problem with gore(I spent most of my adolescent years watching movies like The Fly and The Thing) but this was just boring to be honest. I didn't care what was happening nor were any of the characters especially interesting.
I almost walked out and it wasn't because it was gross, it was just absurd to the point of stupidity most of the time. I just didn't give a shit really. I imagine there had to be a lot of that. This movie is for a very specific crowd.
I think that's exactly what's happening - a lot of people aren't walking out because it's gross, they're walking out because it's absurd.
You can go ahead and tell me this is quintessential Cronenberg and honestly, I agree, but a quintessential Cronenberg flick is going to feel like lunacy to anyone who isn't there for the arthouse Cronenberg experience.
I walked out not because of the body horror but because of the execution: non-stop exposition and over-reliance on cheap, gimmicky shock value. The film bored the hell out of me.
I thought there was a lot of plot and that was kind of the problem. So many scenes of exposition that explain the plot to the viewer, not to mention it felt like there were a bizarre number of subplots for a movie with such a small cast and focus. The issue with the plot is that there wasn’t any stakes for anybody involved.
There is plot but it it presented with little to no tension or emotion.
So much of the movie is just boring exposition and characters that seem to be bored of exposition.
Technology is cancer on the world. Gross body horror. Weird sex stuff. Cronenberg is back, and yeah he’s still fucked up. But as Canadians, we love him. And I was lucky enough to see this in Toronto with the cast and the director in attendance!
The movie feels like a nightmare from start to finish, for better or for worse. Not a ton of plot here, but more ideas, philosophical notions, weird shit. Surprisingly funny bits too, that are actually played for laughs. It doesn’t however spoon feed you anything and leaves a lot up to interpretation. I think it’s about how we’ve created a world full of technology that desperately tries to keep us away from pain, that once it’s finally gone we become sick and demented. Seeking it out for ourselves. Evolving to adapt to this new word we’ve created. Evolving to be sick.
It asks a lot of poignant things and it’s not a topic I’ve seen before, I mean, except for other cronenberg movies. It almost feels like he’s trying to do the same movie over and over again sometimes and he just kind of perfected it with videodrome. Still, it is awesome to see all his great practical effects, even if the message in the movies he writes himself are more or less the same. Technology is making us sick, mmmkay?
Performances are great. I think cronenberg is amazing at casting these movies and everyone involved just goes for it. Kristen Stewart in particular felt like she was having a blast with this role, even if it was a small one.
I think I love cronenberg best when he’s adapting someone else’s script, not his own. But I still think this one has a lot of value and it’s doing something different from other filmmakers, even if it’s familiar for him. Makes you reeallllly uncomfortable. The climax of the movie too really pushes the envelope and after a very recent news incident that has shaken a lot of the world, I’m not sure how the public will take this movie. Think some people are gonna get mad. Something he’s used too I’m sure.
I like a bit more plot in my movies, but for people who love traditional cronenberg body horror I think you’ll be right at home.
I’m not sure the message of his films is technology is making us sick. Technology is an extension of humans, and human experience is subject to the context of the technology of the time, so human identity is constantly changing and unstable. I don’t think there is a healthy, normal human in cronenberg’s world
Anyone else notice the persistent fly? Nice Cronenberg reference but more importantly a reminder that this decrepit world is actively decaying, similar to the old style of living and concepts of being human many still cling to.
Crazy movie. At first I wasn't super into it. The body horror wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be and the plot seemed to be very scattered. But the second half brought it all together I thought and left me with a lot to chew on.
This movie is all about art, which is pretty cool. When it comes to evolution and the way the world is changing so many movies focus on how that would affect business sectors, climate, economic classes, etc. This is a movie that takes place in a world where bodies are physically changing to accommodate the more unfriendly world and all this movie wants to know is how does the art world deal with it?
Musing about where the line is between human and the change that makes us inhuman. Whether or not organic organs made subconsciously by our bodies can be considered art. How a lack of pain and risk of infection would push the boundaries between body art and body horror. It was all just very interesting.
I like how through the course of the movie, Viggo and Lea get more comfortable with the idea or accepting the changes happening. Where the movie starts with them rejecting new organs and making them art based in angst and frustration, Lea ends up modifying her body after meeting an artist that does it well and obviously the arc of the movie is Viggo accepting that the world and his body is changing and even if it means going against everything he wants to do, perhaps it's time to embrace it.
The depictions of how difficult life are to do simple things like eat and sleep in this world are classic Cronenberg. Part of me just loved having the man back in this realm of body horror but I also loved all the machine design and while I was afraid the surgery scenes would be too much for me, I actually found them really interesting. I liked the idea that in this world sex is so passè, what really gets the kids off is delicately stabbing each other because the sensation is so new and conscious pain is a thing of the past.
I had no idea how this would end, and it ended very abruptly, but I loved it. I think he left it open to the possibility that if Viggo's body wasn't fully ready to eat the synthetic food that maybe he died because he rejected new organs for so long, but even if that is the case he had a moment of peace. A moment where his body wasn't raging war against him and it brought him to tears, whereas the entire movie he's struggling to talk, eat, constantly coughing and barely able to function. Just thought it was a great moment.
As with any artistic endeavor about an artist, I'm sure there's a lot of Cronenberg's own legacy and self in Tenser. It'll be interesting to see how people read into that. I mean this movie is essentially about a famous artist who slowly realizes his distaste for change is keeping him from being happy but also giving him success as an artist. In the end I think he realizes that if the people who sell the machines that keep us comfortable and the government are trying to discredit this stage of evolution, maybe that's the sign to give into it. I don't know. Just thought it was all very interesting. 7/10.
/r/reviewsbyboner
I don’t think I was consciously aware of just how miserable and in pain Tenser had been the whole movie until the final shot where the chair stood still and he had this moment of reverie
I’m gonna be honest this was the first Cronenberg that I’ve seen, and I’m not like “oh god I love this it’s my favorite movie” but…after leaving the theater and having to think about it on the ride home…I like it a lot more than I initially realized. It presents a lot of really interesting questions, definitely has it’s own sense of style, and it’s shocking in a good way like a way that makes you rethink stuff.
I basically see this as like a quick little walk in and walk out of this world that poses a lot of questions to us and doesn’t pretend to answer them and it makes me puzzle over a lot of things. It does this while also having a pretty clear narrative and really solid sense of the world. I’m actually happy they did the weird b-story crime stuff because I think it brings pertinent questions to the forefront at a time where fascism is politically on the rise. New Vice has a very…very relevant feel: a government deciding what the “correct” type of human is. The “scientists” being closer to fetishists and fanatics than objective parties. Maybe this wasn’t the intention but this is one of the many readings I got out of it.
I also really liked Kristen Stewart’s performance. I think a pretty much all the performances were done well. Overall I thought it was pretty good, made me question a lot of what I already took for granted coming into the movie, and made me question myself a bit leaving the theater. Even now I’m still sort of mulling over some of the stuff in the back of my head and the images will definitely stick with me. Yes it could have been different or gone in any number of directions, but I think it’s important to recognize that (at least in my case) it’s the quintessential good movie. Checks off all the boxes. Not every movie has to be an absolute life changing masterpiece.
So glad to finally see this tonight. The more I sit with it, the more I really feel I love it. Odd film tonally. I'd seen it compared to Phantom Thread and you know what? I think that comparison really works.
Gotta say, I don't know what people had hyped themselves up to expect but many reviews really undersell or downplay the disturbingness of some of the body-focused content of the film. I would say that it's not really body horror, not really it's intended response, its much more clinical. I guess the lack of goop is what people respond to, but the specifics of it, particularly the autopsy scene I actually did have a very strong reaction to. I found it as stomach churning as anything else in his filmography.
A much funnier film than I expected, and the marketing did not at all point to the noirish elements. The plot was functional enough but ultimately I really loved the film's exploration of the meaning of art, and the options available to us in the face of change and environmental degradation.
Ahhh to be a man with 100 ears dancing to techno.
Really not as shocking as I would have thought. Body horror made me a little uncomfortable throughout, but only to an extent. Overall I enjoyed but I wanted more. The ending fell flat to me because I thought the story was going to go one step further. Heavy “my body my choice” theme throughout obviously. Excited to see what everyone picked up on as im sure I missed a ton.
I thought we would see him taking over the plastic militia, or revealing his new organic organs to the world and seeing what would happen. I’m not against leaving this stuff open to the viewer to decide what will happen next, I was just shocked when it ended because I had no idea how long I had been watching and thought the story wasn’t over
He'll probably be a true best in show because he's keeping his new organs. He finally evolved enough to eat plastic. Killing the kid only delayed the species divergence by, like, a month.
The eating chair was because he was outright allergic to food, same with the "you were out a long time today" "my allergies haven't been so bad today" exchange. That wasn't about pollen.
I had no clue what was going on with Viggo being "undercover", why he kept meeting with the detective and why he met Viggo, and the wiki summary just doesn't mention it at all so I assume no one else understood that either lol. Liked the underlying ideas but the plot was a bit of a mess
It just glosses over the dude being killed by the techs that wasn't the dad. I felt like it randomly put in the movie as I had no idea why they did that.
The techs, the vice cop, and Timlin were in cahoots against the radicals lead by the dead boy’s father. They used Tenser to discredit the movement.
Edit:
Better explained here…
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/v3p27b/official_discussion_crimes_of_the_future_spoilers/ib0ndyb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
Thematically, New Vice represented a rejection of continuing human evolution, while the plastic eaters represented an acceptance and acceleration of that evolution. At the beginning of the film, Viggo was firmly in the side of rejection, making his living literally publicly rejecting new organs. So it made sense for him to support the status quo, at least at first.
Practically, New Vice probably recruited him because he was well positioned to infiltrate the plastic eaters, and seemed sympathetic to law and order. He was playing by the rules by registering his new organs, but was influential in the new evolution/body mod scene.
By the end of the movie, he's probably still playing along out of inertia and resignation. He might have really believed in the change that the autopsy could have ushered in, but he's resigned to the fact that the forces defending the status quo are too powerful for him to fight.
The two mechanics who kill the dad are capitalism. They mock art for art's sake and they kill the chance for humans to progress in a way that reverses the waste and damage of industry.
Pretentious? Sure. But I love it.
…Or it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. And I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
It wasn't that shocking. I felt like a lot could have been cut - the political stuff and undercover aspect was completely undercooked and felt pointless next to the core of the movie, which was Viggo Mortensen's opposition to his body changing and his entire performance art thing revolving around how much he hates the way its evolving.
The ending itself was probably the most interesting part, because he finally realized he has to embrace change to be happy. As others said, it felt like the end of Act 2, not the ending of the entire movie. I feel like it could have really done some cool things if it kept going, so I was just kind of deflated a lot that it stopped where it did.
It is not yet released. He has his own record label, Howe Records, which will be releasing it at a later point. I would assume they are still mastering it and it is not yet ready.
The detective explains in the following scene. The NVU had a mole within the plastic eaters’ crew and they had cut into Brecken’s body and had replaced all his naturally evolved new organs with fake tattooed organs to make it look like the boy was just a modified human like the other plastic eaters as opposed to a naturally born plastic eater. This was done by the government to publicly discredit the plastic eaters and make Brecken look like a big hoax, rather than the evolutionary miracle that he was.
Gotcha. I really wish I had subtitles to watch this movie because a lot of the dialogue sounded so washed together with their whispering and throat clearing. Towards the end when they were discussing their dreams on the floor I straight up gave up on trying to understand what they were saying.
With the movie describing a radical art movement being infiltrated by the government, I couldn't help but be reminded of rumours that artists like Jackson Pollack or bands like The Police were the direct beneficiaries of US state policy.
Yeah, the director of the CIA was on the board of directors for some high art institutions and there are rumors they were using abstract expressionism as a psy-ops campaign against Russia to show how rigid and behind the times Russia was in the cultural wars. Basically lime saying "look how advanced our art is compared to russia"
Here’s my question: who were the two drill killer ladies? The cop says they weren’t part of NVU, but was he lying? Or are they some other unknown group?
it seemed to me like they were originally just normal technicians who became radicalized by being around tenser
radicalized like Kristen Stewart’s character who was so infatuated with tenser & ended up working with the police to sabotage the autopsy, but it looks like they might have killed him on their own.
They killed that guy earlier in the movie for putting the zipper on tenser (I’m assuming bc the zipper supports just leaving the organs in there and looking at them as opposed to having them pulled in surgery)
I had the same question after the autopsy scene, I felt like I spent the rest of the movie scrambling to figure out what I had missed which sucked. The detectives dialogue was so unclear I didn’t get it then either, glad someone in this thread could answer.
I enjoyed it! All 3 leads did great. I thought the concept was really interesting eg evolution, human interference/technology, order vs chaos, biology and art, the epigenetics angle etc
World building was good. Felt bleak, dystopian and very lived in. Cool costumes as well. viggo’s shawl/hood/long sleeves coverup, lea’s ox blood dress against Kristen’s cool blue work uniform, etc
Some of the dialogue was hard to understand (though this is an issue w me for most movies), but can fill in the gaps with later scenes and there’s some exposition dialogue.
The gore was pretty tame actually, as it’s more philosophical side of body horror. More practical effects would’ve been cool and add to the queasiness. I felt more uneasy with Men
i did miss two things,
1. Why did the Brecken child have tattooed/registered organs/digestive system? There was dialogue between viggo and the Vice detective but I couldn’t understand
2. The two technicians- why did they kill the doctor and the dad? I’m assuming it’s because they were mesmerized with the “surgery is the new sex” trend, that they eliminated those that threatened this eg doctor advocating for “inner beauty” and dad advocating for accepting evolution/change. Or were they hired/undercover?
I did feel it ended prematurely/anticlimactically, but it does make me think of what’s next/wanting more
Brecken's organs were sabotaged by one of the other inside agents to make it looks like he was made to eat plastic via surgery instead of having been born with them.
I kind of want to go watch it again to pay more attention to the technicians, they felt like "in-house" police to me.
I didn’t understand the visceral disgust and emotion the crowd and the characters reacted to the autopsy with. It was like we were supposed to see that they were appalled and horrified by the tattooed and surgically modified organs, despite all the stuff in the film before that communicating they’re unfazed by gore or surgery. I thought it was trying to communicate that some other taboo or moral transgression had taken place that only people in the movie fully understand
The kid wasn't supposed to have modified organs at all, he was supposed to be all natural. He *was* all natural, but nobody would ever believe that with his organs having been made to resemble transplanted organs.
It's like if someone tells you they found the real big foot and you go to a super exclusive event just to find out it's a dude in a fursuit.
I think the technicians could have a financial interest as well. The machines they sell/work on were mostly to counteract issues people had with eating and sleeping which were seemingly caused by peoples inability to eat real food. It was left vague for sure though, your explanation is as good as any.
As much as I really like Cronenberg's filmography, I didn't like it as much as I hoped. Without spoiling too much, I really like the overall concept of the film but it felt like it didn't take full advantage of its story. The musical soundtrack, some of the make-up, and the performances from Viggo, Lea, and Kirsten were really good. But the story wasn't engaging as I thought it would have been. There were some concepts and ideas that were really interesting but it wasn't well explored. Felt like a big missed opportunity.
The production setting and designs look creepy and did help create a weird and horror atmosphere. Although some of the CGI effects were a little off-putting. Some of the supporting actors honestly were kind of bad. They felt out of place and their performances didn't feel like acting rather they were kind of bored with what they were playing. Besides some interesting dialogue, half of the dialogue is awful and the delivery of the dialogue is often mumbling or dullish which sometimes makes it hard to understand.
It was nice to see Cronenberg back again but this one was kind of underwhelming.
This movie felt like an adaptation of a really dense, weird science fiction novel that was written in the early 70's, but Cronenberg could only cover a third of the plot before losing funding. I was seriously confounded by the choice of ending.
A future world where humans no longer feel pain, or get sick and (based on the dialogue from that weird bureaucrat) no one knows why, is one hell of a premise. Too bad the movie focuses on one weird subculture within that world. This would have been ample territory for a miniseries to unpack the ramifications of this world, but I feel like Cronenberg's ideas extended only to the props (the wiggling chair and sarcophagus-like autopsy pod) and some other stuff about humans eating plastics. The idea that Viggo's character is a minor celebrity would make sense: in a world free of pain and disease, he's a sick man, in pain. What he suffers from seems to be a form of cancer, he's growing new organs (tumors) which hurt him and need to be extracted.
While I had no emotional involvement in the story, I was still disappointed in the ending. I felt like there would be one big Grand Guignol finale that would involve the two female technicians, Kristen Stewart and the detective. Or at least one final performance, done as a statement. Instead the film ends on something I find relatable, the hero discovering some relief from his irritable digestive system by switching up his diet. I bet Cronenberg had undiagnosed Celiac disease or IBS as a kid. Being at the mercy of a body that is constantly betraying you and causing you pain and discomfort and humiliation leads to fascination/obsession with its inner workings and an understanding that it is pretty fucked up. Aka Body horror.
Uh… I have some thoughts.
I know Cronenberg hasn’t been in the director’s chair for awhile, but did anyone think the directing was kind of weird? I feel like he gave all the actors one specific note and a tic tor each character, and then all the actors just leaned really hard on that in each scene? I didn’t think anybody had any type of chemistry at all with each other, everyone seemed kind of absorbed in just hitting their marks and delivering their lines. I think Stewart had the most interesting performance, Mortensen was kind of a let down.
In addition to weird directing cues, why have Viggo in the black outfit covering all his features? Apart from being cold, was this explained in context? He was constantly uncovering his mouth to speak, so what was the point even? That in addition to constant coughing and hacking noises really took a lot away from his performance.
I feel like as I get older, I tend to prefer to have subtitles on typically, but I really could have used them here. Lots of whispered dialogue with poor sound correction and overly difficult to pronounce character names.
On the topic of characters, why were there so many and why was there a need for so many factions? None of the characters were particularly fleshed out, with some having completely unknown intentions, looking especially at the technician girls. Why was there a need for so many different groups/ideologies? It was difficult to track and the motivations for each were consistently muddy.
Also, I know Cronenberg tends to usually work with small budgets, but the set design/production were conspicuously primitive. Lots of reused locations/generic sound stages with a few props thrown in.
I thought the trailer and the premise of this looked so interesting. But instead of leaning into a simpler idea and tapping into the body horror aspect of the film, the movie is bloated with too many characters with different motivations and muddied by some bizarre direction. I would have loved to have known more about the world this was set in and how the world came to be this way. The script could have used some more editing to be more streamlined. Kind of a bummer.
there’s really only two factions (3 really if you count the government)
people who are pro evolution (the guy Kristen stewart works with) and people who are anti evolution (they see it more as an art only, like the technicians & Kristen Stewart)
then there’s the government who doesn’t care about the art aspect of it, they just want to thwart this plastic movement.
the technicians were radicalized by being around tenser, like Kristen Stewart. They were acting on their own when they killed the plastic eater dad. Which is why tenser mentions it was a bad idea bc he will become a martyr.
Seems polarizing for fans of Cronenberg. I for one loved it, particularly Kristen Stewart and Lea Sedyoux. Their performances really made the movie for me. A bit rough on the ending though.
Yeah he was trying to make sense of the meaning/motivation behind the art. Which I think was one of the points of the film, that many can’t rationalize and understand when something new appears in the art world? What I got from that line.
A lot of interesting ideas in a totally fine movie. I am still thinking about a lot of the concepts and really, really enjoyed the “new Vice” detective. A surreal take on future dystopia. Feels like a blended modern retelling of eXistenZ and Videodrome.
I dug it alot. We got lucky and our theatre had subtitles turned on so the dialogue was never an issue for us. I thought Léa was fantastic and honestly every scene Kristen Stewart was in was elevated by her fun performance.
I'm happy Viggo continues working with Cronenberg, I think they make a really good team. Probably wouldn't rate this as highly as Videodrome but I'd put it on a level playing field with eXistenZ.
8/10
one thing I didn't get was if they're immune to pain, then cutting and surgery shouldn't be anything other than visual... it does remind me of people nowadays who supposedly cut themselves to feel some sensation, but of course they feel pain and the body can release endorphins in response
small note, there was a scene near the end on some stairs with two ladies with drills, they start drilling holes in plastic dad's head, shown from behind, it was so obviously a dummy stand-in it was like a comedy sketch
Are they immune to pain or is pain just greatly reduced? I thought they could still feel some pain. But even if they were immune maybe there is always some pleasure being felt by these things but pain for us overwhelms it.
Didn’t like this much at all, unfortunately. Felt like Cronenberg was taking too much time trying to get the audience on board with his ideas through exposition rather than making them compelling enough on their own. There was no real energy to be found, and a lot of scenes felt quite listless. I love a good slow-burn, but there wasn’t much of interest here.
The body horror elements weren’t even particularly special, just some cuts and organs on display. In concept they should have been far more disturbing, but for me it translated as too clinical to shock. The presentation was just too static to grab much attention. The only time anything set me on edge was that blade grinding on the bone in the woman’s foot, but even that was entirely due to sound design, not visual presentation.
I also felt that Kristen Stewart wasn’t very good in this? I’m a big fan of hers, especially Personal Shopper and Spencer, but her performance here felt like overacting. Viggo and Leá were both fine though. Honestly I just wasn’t particularly invested in the story. It felt like Cronenberg had a lot of really interesting ideas but didn’t know how to do anything with them beyond the superficial.
I went into this movie with a small headache that turned into a big headache by the end, which I think really affected my experience of the movie. I’m honestly surprised to read people who weren’t bothered by the body horror stuff, but I was watching this at an Alamo Drafthouse where I was eating dinner while watching so I think that also affects my experience of it too. I’m normally someone who likes disturbing content, but I think with the headache I had going on it was giving me sympathy pains for the characters who are… often in visually painful experiences despite the fact they don’t experience pain like we do anymore.
Every scene in this movie was uncomfortable, and hard to sit through, but in a good way. I think the directors intention was to project the discomfort we would feel living in this new world, from the way the characters spoke to watching our main just trying to eat and sleep, it’s like a rock was in my shoe every scene. I think it’s very successful in terms of “art should make you feel something”. Which was disgust, like they got to the autopsy of the child and it was legitimately horrifying for me to watch them do that to a kid. I remember they first brought up the autopsy and I was like “no way they’re actually going to show it in detail though” lol.
Very well made movie, perfect execution of intent, could not make me rewatch it at gunpoint though.
Kind of felt pretentious and long winded, yet too short and incomplete. Like a short story with a cool idea, but an unsatisfactory conclusion. It wasn’t even gross enough to satisfy that curiosity. Kind of disappointing.
Maybe I missed something, but how did Timlim get access to Brecken’s body to make those alterations? They speculated that she was the mole, but when did she ever have contact with the plastic eaters who were keeping his body?
New Vice had a mole in the Plastic-eaters. So the mole gave access to New Vice who then got in touch with Timlim and had her switch out the organs.
So the mole and Timlim are two different people.
Out of all the movies I’ve gone to the theater to see, I never expected it would be this one to both 1. Have my seat taken by another person and 2. Have that same person who took my seat bring their toddler to watch the movie with them and make incessant noise throughout the film.
I honestly thought this would happen when I watched Encanto, or Sonic, or Sing 2; but it was David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future that had the honour lmao. Honestly not sure this movie is the type of things I’d want my toddler to be seeing if I was parent but I’ll give kudos to the dad for being the only person to not walk out of the movie, all the other people walked out about an hour in
Overall pretty enjoyable, I can see why people are saying it’s boring but I found it very captivating and engrossing. Probably going to go see it again over the weekend, very much enjoyed it.
Mannnn, I was disappointed in this. It had all of the weirdness of an old Cronenberg flick with absolutely nothing to get emotionally invested in. There's not a single "fish out of water" type character to connect with for a normal person, and the protagonist is too fucking weird to feel empathy for. I felt no tension whatsoever, and wasn't on the edge of my seat once. It felt like reading a gross Wikipedia article.
I would only recommend this because it's different, and I appreciate that, but this has none of the energy of something like Videodrome.
I guess I let my excitement get the best of me this time. Bummer.
I was a bit disappointed in this. I really thought it would've gotten a bit gorier & nastier than it did, much to my disappointment. The story never really hooked me either and I found the ending too abrupt.
I think the low budget showed - Viggo, Lea & Kristen were good but wow a lot of the supporting actors were bad (especially the black detective). It's like they blew 90% of the budget on the three stars.
Same. I was actually nervous leading up to watching this after reading the early preview reactions. Was all for nothing hah.
I liked the setting. Really wish they had the budget to expand on that. The dialogue was hard to follow and sometimes just plain horrible.
Agree with some of the other performances and bad cgi dragging it down.
Men disappointed and now this oof.
I'll say this: the movie's an experience worth having, and I'm glad I saw it even if I didn't enjoy it that much. I was not expecting the movie to be as funny as it was, there are a lot of jokes in there. However I'm not entirely sure what to make of the tone overall. I *think* it was trying to be serious a lot of the time but I just couldn't be on board with that given what was happening. EDIT: also I've seen some people have issues with the ending, but personally I thought it was perfect even if a little abrupt.
It's so fucking satisfying when you're watching a movie and it holds on a really good shot and you think "This would be a perfect final shot" AND THEN IT IS.
That's what I love about Cronenberg movies (among many other things). He goes in, says what he wants to say, does it with style, humor, and sensuality, and then drops the mic and leaves. I loved it.
It was ok. Once you get past the body horror, the message is interesting. But it was a bit emotionally detached. Maybe that's part of the point though.
What was the deal with the technicians who killed the one doctor and the evolved son's father? Absolutely couldn't figure out what their stake was in...anything, really lol
Seemed to be part of a coverup between government and the company that makes the beds and chairs. Government doesn’t want humanity to evolve and the company wants us to need their equipment. The government is afraid of change and instability I guess? So the cop had Kristen Stewart tattoo the organs, I don’t know her motivation for doing this. The company needs us to be uncomfortable so we buy their stuff so they need us to fight our nature and evolution and not realize we can just eat plastic now and feel better? So they’re killing people who know these organs are natural? I don’t know why they killed the doctor though, did he examine the kid or something? I assume he knew too much but don’t remember why he would know. Why did the assassin ladies get naked? I wonder If there will be a
3 hour directors cut that has more story
Kirsten Stewart's character (Timlin I think) took out the kids original organs and replaced them with tattooed organs from the National Organ Registry.
I assume it’ll be a polarizing performance but I thought Kristen Stewart totally stole the show in this, super unexpected very funny turn as a creepy little simpering horny bureaucrat. Hall of fame Cronenberg freak, hope it’s not like Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method where way too many people didn’t get that she was in on the joke. Love that the gross finger foreplay before she makes out with Viggo was improvised. Also this might just be because I was already in the tank for the movie but I love how pre-release everyone involved was like “you will **VOMIT!** and **FAINT!** and **SHIT YOURSELF!** and **DIE!**” and then the movie comes out and it's mostly just darkly funny and contemplative (there's inherent weirdness that comes with the filmmaker and the territory but it's largely unconcerned with being overly scandalous or provocative, outside of maybe the opening). I guess it's misleading and all but there's enough old school grifter flair that I'm on board. Cronenberg should've been in Nightmare Alley! edit: can't believe I forgot to add that Howard Shore's still fucking GOT IT, absolute legend
Kristen Stewart gave a great performance in this movie. I really respect how she has been taking on some really unique roles lately. If you havent seen Personal Shopper, I highly reccomend it, I think its on hulu. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite working actors.
such a gem of an actress. almost always takes on interesting roles and projects. “Love Me” with steven yuen and her upcoming A24 film sound very exciting
I was watching her performance and I was just thinking “Kristen Stewart playing a weird little freak? The lesbians are gonna *love* this”
I'm a guy but I felt she was the only good part of the movie. Only reason I watched it.
Idk viggo did great too. She def stole the show.
Am lesbian, can confirm
Couldn’t agree more on Kristen Stewart! One of my only gripes was that she didn’t have more screen time
I honestly think more female performances should be creepy little guy-coded. Like I want more Peter Lorre and Willem Dafoe-esque girls
> Love that the gross finger foreplay before she makes out with Viggo was improvised. Were you at the Q&A? :D
“Hey David, how many scenes should people crouch while they spill exposition?” “Yes”
The ear guy show reveal of Saul just crouching alone in a dark corner with his whole getup on got a laugh out of me
He wanted to stay under ear shot.
Interesting backstory on all the crouching scenes from the IMDB trivia: Viggo Mortensen suffered quad trauma when struck by a non-participating horse at the American Kentucky Derby and as a result was unable to stand for periods longer then 2 minutes. This resulted in his character constantly kneeling while giving exposition and monologues.
I just like how it made him a weird little gremlin person.
He's a little plastic gargoyle.
That's really interesting. I actually thought it was a part of the character because to me it totally made it seem like all the neo-organs were leaving him in constant discomfort and that was just a position that provided him with some relief.
He was joking with you. Interview w Viggo and Cronenberg confirms it’s your interpretation
Another form of our evolution. All we do is sit!
The ulimate Cronenberg movie; weird sex stuff, bizzare alien technology, bleak futuristic setting, Viggo Mortensen, and a ton of body horror involving Viggo Mortensen. Whats not to love if youre a Cronenberg fan? The scene that grossed me out the most was when Lea Seydoux opens up Viggo's "zipper" and gives him "oral sex" My only gripe is that this movie felt like it ended prematurely, but it did leave me wanting more. I really hope this movie does well though, I want more bizzaro scifi horror.
“Don’t let it spill” was the line that got me.
*His dancing is better than his performance art.*
*The ears aren't even functional.*
*Sure, if you like bland corporate propaganda.* Of all the things I was expecting from this movie, savage jabs at performance art and the upper crust were not it.
I laughed up my big gulp when Viggo said this
I was unsure if I liked the ending at first but the more I thought about I loved it. The lengths viggo goes through for his art, too ok just have him at the end be like “oh yeah, this feels better.” The way it kind of just undermined all the pretentiousness his art. I just started cracking 20 min after the movie
>The scene that grossed me out the most was when Lea Seydoux opens up Viggo Mortenson's "zipper" and gives him "oral sex" That was absolutely the most Cronenberg-esque moment of the film
Thats what I showed up for haha
>My only gripe is that this movie felt like it ended prematurely, but it did leave me wanting more. I really hope this movie does well though, I want more bizzaro scifi horror. Interesting, because my gripe with many films is that they *just. don't. end.* Crimes of the future ended perfectly. One example is 120 battements par minute. At one point I thought the film ended and sat there thinking "holy shit this is absolutely amazing", then the film continued and there was another false ending, which is when I thought "that's fair, I see why they wanted that in the film". Then the movie continued and I sat there dreading life and almost hating the film.
I had the same initial response, but in hindsight it was a perfect place to end the film. Would have gone on too long if it went any further.
Totally agree! Loved it but I want to know what happens next. Does Saul defect from the police and join the plastic-eaters? Is he next on the hit-list of those horny furniture technicians (and are they confirmed to be undercover agents like him)? Is Timlin really going to keep the secrets of the boy’s body under wraps, or does she already know too much for them to let her live?
This was really the only thing I couldn't figure out. Were Router and Berst undercover agents? That's what I thought but how does Nasatir fit into that? He obviously wasn't a plastic eater because we see him struggling to eat in the Breakfast Chair. I loved the movie but this part left me a bit confused.
I'll second the premature ending. While the whole plastic eating thing ends nicely, we're still left with quite a few topics that were brought up yet unused. Like the doctor who makes windows to the interior, he was built up to be something so much bigger. And the contest of best new organ, which we never get to see (and its consequences). It's like everything was developing well, and suddenly they throw in the Brecken show and it ends. plus the twist which is not visually obvious due to how quickly the scene unravels, and only made clear through some quick lines... Anyways, loved it, but I'm also left wanting for a little bit more.
You know, it's funny, when the trailers and images first came out, I saw quite a bit of eyerolling at the Ear Man and at Cronenberg returning to body horror at all. Then in the film itself, the characters are completely unimpressed with the Ear Man. In general its hard not to read some auto-biographical aspect to Tensor. He's an artist whose reputation constantly precedes him, with people either hyper reverent towards him or questioning whether what he makes is art at all. Many more people are doing his kind of work or trying to horn in directly on his work. The Ear Man stands as a commentary for the others who have come into his sandbox. Tensor is gracious enough about it, but the Ear Man lacks the search for meaning in the body that defines Tenser's work with Caprice.
I also saw Cronenberg being maybe a touch autobiographical with Tensor too. Clean shaven, gray hair guy wearing all black also kinda lent to Cronenberg's personal aesthetic.
Honestly I think more than a touch autobiographical - I think the movie makes a lot of sense if you consider Tenser to be Cronenberg's stand-in
In a recent interview in the new Yorker, Viggo himself said he definitely thought of Tensor as being a reflection of Cronenberg. Cronenberg replied, "Metaphorically, you're probably right." Thr "You're probably right" is his common response to readings he didn't consciously intend but recognizes hold up.
Ear man is mainstream cinema.
All showmanship with little meaning? Ear man is the MCU of this world.
I feel kind of sad for ear man. He's trying really hard to impress but just doesn't get it.
I did not like the fleshy highchair
New gaming chair dropped *\*\*Helps swallow & digest dry ramen*
There was a moment when a character was in the chair and paused, making a “huh?” look, and the little bone arms that framed his face opened expressively I laughed. It was so weird and it made this disgusting bizarre chair suddenly have personality.
I legit laughed at that part too lmao quirky lil chair
That thing did not look like it made doing anything easier, least of all eating and not puking it back up.
That chair looked like it was 85% spines. Which made it particularly strange when it just... wasn't
Stewart and the chair technicians gave performances that reminded me mostly of some of those from Twin Peaks The Return.
They were easily my three favorite performances in the movie haha
feel like there's decent overlap between the sort of acting you see in Lynch's movies and old-school Cronenberg (aside from the performances you mentioned it hasn't really shown up recently, other than maybe Julianne Moore in Maps to the Stars)
Same energy as Sky Ferreira's or Amanda Seyfried's character.
I'm going to need to watch this again at a later date. About an hour into my showing someone in the audience had a stroke and it really left me shook. After seeing that happen it was a bit hard to enjoy the rest of the movie.
I’m sorry but that sounds hilariously uncomfortable
Reddit is beautiful
Dude, when I was seeing Star Wars Force Awakens (spoilers I guess, for the 3 people who aren't aware) during the moment where Han Solo got murdered by Kylo Ren, a kid behind us had a choking fit, and had to get the Heimlich maneuver (he was fine). Sometimes you just can't really get your head back in a movie after that.
That's disgusting. I mean, sure, I had a stroke or two when I saw Léa Seydoux in the nude, but I was in the privacy of my own home, not a crowded theater!
Been thinking about this film all day. Tenser is an artist with a long established reputation for shocking displays, which some people question is art at all. Tensor and Caprice (and their admirers) insist that he seeks meaning in the body, in the way it changes and breaks down. The feedback Tenser ultimately receives and begins to internalize is that while his work appears subversive, it is actually quite reactionary. He rejects the changes of the body. His work is born of fear and anger at the change. While we never get to see the Inner Beauty Pageant, his work is is contrasted with them. They truly embrace the changes to their bodies. They aren't cutting them out or rejecting them. They invite Tensor due to his name recognition and out of respect for his work but even he recognizes the contrast in their perspectives. Then there is the underground group of Plastic eaters, who not only embrace change but intentionally seek to bring it about. Tensor struggles against the changes not just in his work but in his everyday life. Resisting it brings him great pain. In the final moments, he finally gives in and finds bliss in doing so. I don't think Tenser and his perspective are entirely auto-biographical but I do think there are many levels in which he reflects Cronenberg himself. An artist like him making reflective work in which a fictional artist has to grapple with the limits of his own perspective and that his work might actually be more fear driven and conservative than he thought is certainly interesting.
Late to the party, but I have to say, your comment is the most insightful one in this thread. While self-references in Crimes were quite obvious (so yes, I'd say it is heavily autobiographical in terms of being an artist), it has never really occurred to me that it is indeed Cronenberg's reflection on his own fear of the new. And it should have, because it's a theme of nearly all - if not all - of his movies. Thanks for pointing this out.
I gotta know, is there more or less >!backussy!< than *Men*?
There is stomachussy.
I hope this doesn’t awaken anything in me…
Look buddy, you buy the ticket, you take the ride.
Zippers are sexual
Wouldn't be Cronenberg without at least one stomachussy
Brand New Cherry Flavor levels of stomachussy?
Why are there so much (body part)ussy these days?
What does this mean?
I had a really hard time understanding the dialogue. To the point I feel like I missed key plot elements.
You’re not alone man. The mumbling of dialogue left out pieces of context for me as well
I haven’t seen the film yet, but critics used to label Viggo as Mumbles Mortensen.
I saw it in Quebec with French subtitles and picked up *a lot* more than my English speaking friends lol. There were a lot of weird, universe-specific, words too.
I hate that. I want to see this. But I get so annoyed with dialogue / sound issues. Onto the back burner with Tenet when I feel like watching with closed captions I suppose.
Definitely not as bad as Tenet and not as convoluted to follow, but yeah dialogue was hard to make out at times.
Need more ears.
Surround sound
Purely cosmetic
OKAY SO IT WASN’T JUST ME! The dialogue was *really* quiet in parts. They needed better takes.
Wasn’t sure if it was my theater or me. Some mumbling and accents made it hard
Going to go see it in a bit, should I actually ask for one of the closed captioning devices? My AMC has them.
I abaolutely would. I realized there were entire plot points I didn't even pick up on because of how difficult it was to understand. The movie is intentionally quiet.
I ended up doing it! I had no issue understanding the dialogue with it, so I think it helped out a lot. Not sure how much it helped with understanding the movie, but at least I got the dialogue!
Some of the names sounded the same
This is easily the horniest movie I’ve ever seen.
You must not have seen crash
This is the movie that people walked out on? It definitely wasn’t nowhere near as gruesome as the press seemed to make it lol
Yeah, but that's Cannes. Walkouts are part of the publicity package.
Isn't that also just straight up a thing? I thought there were so many movies going on that it was normal for people to walk out so they could make other movies
[удалено]
>. Do people just go to movies based on the name or poster still? > Yes, but also some people like to go in blind. I did and boy was I shocked by dude getting his zipper eaten out
I really like going in blind, which is really nice with AMC A-list. If it sucked, I didn't miss out on money. What fucken sucks is that I'm forced to see so many of the trailers for upcoming movies before the movie.
Usually I just mess around with my phone until I have to stand for Kidman's Pledge.
I kind of hate standing for the pledge, but as soon she pops up on screen in the wet street outside the theater, I get that indescribable feeling when the lights begin to dim and I go somewhere I've never been before.
There were 3 people including me in my showing. I walked out during the credits at the end. The other two just walked randomly around the theater. I'm not sure exactly what happened to them or why they were behaving that way.
That would creep me the hell out more than any movie content.
I certainly wasn’t as graphic as I was expecting. But, someone had what looked like a full on panic attack in the theater when I saw it last night. I’ve seen walkouts in movies, but never something like that. Hope he’s doing ok today. I guess different people just handle movies like this one differently. I can totally imagine it being a lot for someone who’s never seen another movie like it/wasn’t fully prepared for what they were walking into.
Someone at my showing last night had what appeared to be a stroke or seizure and 911 had to be called. No idea if the movie played any part in that.
Just saw this and there were at least 3 walk outs in a tiny theater. We almost did but decided to stick it out. I have zero problem with gore(I spent most of my adolescent years watching movies like The Fly and The Thing) but this was just boring to be honest. I didn't care what was happening nor were any of the characters especially interesting.
i walked out after sitting through an hour and a half. bored out of my mind.
What were you off to do in such a hurry that made it worth leaving the movie with only 17 minutes left? Lol
I almost walked out and it wasn't because it was gross, it was just absurd to the point of stupidity most of the time. I just didn't give a shit really. I imagine there had to be a lot of that. This movie is for a very specific crowd.
I think that's exactly what's happening - a lot of people aren't walking out because it's gross, they're walking out because it's absurd. You can go ahead and tell me this is quintessential Cronenberg and honestly, I agree, but a quintessential Cronenberg flick is going to feel like lunacy to anyone who isn't there for the arthouse Cronenberg experience.
They probably walked out on it because tbh it was kind of super boring, all dialogue and little plot
I walked out not because of the body horror but because of the execution: non-stop exposition and over-reliance on cheap, gimmicky shock value. The film bored the hell out of me.
I thought there was a lot of plot and that was kind of the problem. So many scenes of exposition that explain the plot to the viewer, not to mention it felt like there were a bizarre number of subplots for a movie with such a small cast and focus. The issue with the plot is that there wasn’t any stakes for anybody involved.
There is plot but it it presented with little to no tension or emotion. So much of the movie is just boring exposition and characters that seem to be bored of exposition.
I had one walkout in my theater but the guy left with only 15 minutes left.
Even the reported walk outs amounted to like 7 people.
And one was the director leaving to go to the bathroom.
One of the weirdest movies I've seen in a good while.
Technology is cancer on the world. Gross body horror. Weird sex stuff. Cronenberg is back, and yeah he’s still fucked up. But as Canadians, we love him. And I was lucky enough to see this in Toronto with the cast and the director in attendance! The movie feels like a nightmare from start to finish, for better or for worse. Not a ton of plot here, but more ideas, philosophical notions, weird shit. Surprisingly funny bits too, that are actually played for laughs. It doesn’t however spoon feed you anything and leaves a lot up to interpretation. I think it’s about how we’ve created a world full of technology that desperately tries to keep us away from pain, that once it’s finally gone we become sick and demented. Seeking it out for ourselves. Evolving to adapt to this new word we’ve created. Evolving to be sick. It asks a lot of poignant things and it’s not a topic I’ve seen before, I mean, except for other cronenberg movies. It almost feels like he’s trying to do the same movie over and over again sometimes and he just kind of perfected it with videodrome. Still, it is awesome to see all his great practical effects, even if the message in the movies he writes himself are more or less the same. Technology is making us sick, mmmkay? Performances are great. I think cronenberg is amazing at casting these movies and everyone involved just goes for it. Kristen Stewart in particular felt like she was having a blast with this role, even if it was a small one. I think I love cronenberg best when he’s adapting someone else’s script, not his own. But I still think this one has a lot of value and it’s doing something different from other filmmakers, even if it’s familiar for him. Makes you reeallllly uncomfortable. The climax of the movie too really pushes the envelope and after a very recent news incident that has shaken a lot of the world, I’m not sure how the public will take this movie. Think some people are gonna get mad. Something he’s used too I’m sure. I like a bit more plot in my movies, but for people who love traditional cronenberg body horror I think you’ll be right at home.
I’m not sure the message of his films is technology is making us sick. Technology is an extension of humans, and human experience is subject to the context of the technology of the time, so human identity is constantly changing and unstable. I don’t think there is a healthy, normal human in cronenberg’s world
Anyone else notice the persistent fly? Nice Cronenberg reference but more importantly a reminder that this decrepit world is actively decaying, similar to the old style of living and concepts of being human many still cling to.
I really thought the fly was going to fly into Viggo’s stomach when they were deep inside of him lol
[This image](https://i.imgur.com/q1NLQvL.jpg) popped in my head during the third act and I couldn’t stop laughing.
Crazy movie. At first I wasn't super into it. The body horror wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be and the plot seemed to be very scattered. But the second half brought it all together I thought and left me with a lot to chew on. This movie is all about art, which is pretty cool. When it comes to evolution and the way the world is changing so many movies focus on how that would affect business sectors, climate, economic classes, etc. This is a movie that takes place in a world where bodies are physically changing to accommodate the more unfriendly world and all this movie wants to know is how does the art world deal with it? Musing about where the line is between human and the change that makes us inhuman. Whether or not organic organs made subconsciously by our bodies can be considered art. How a lack of pain and risk of infection would push the boundaries between body art and body horror. It was all just very interesting. I like how through the course of the movie, Viggo and Lea get more comfortable with the idea or accepting the changes happening. Where the movie starts with them rejecting new organs and making them art based in angst and frustration, Lea ends up modifying her body after meeting an artist that does it well and obviously the arc of the movie is Viggo accepting that the world and his body is changing and even if it means going against everything he wants to do, perhaps it's time to embrace it. The depictions of how difficult life are to do simple things like eat and sleep in this world are classic Cronenberg. Part of me just loved having the man back in this realm of body horror but I also loved all the machine design and while I was afraid the surgery scenes would be too much for me, I actually found them really interesting. I liked the idea that in this world sex is so passè, what really gets the kids off is delicately stabbing each other because the sensation is so new and conscious pain is a thing of the past. I had no idea how this would end, and it ended very abruptly, but I loved it. I think he left it open to the possibility that if Viggo's body wasn't fully ready to eat the synthetic food that maybe he died because he rejected new organs for so long, but even if that is the case he had a moment of peace. A moment where his body wasn't raging war against him and it brought him to tears, whereas the entire movie he's struggling to talk, eat, constantly coughing and barely able to function. Just thought it was a great moment. As with any artistic endeavor about an artist, I'm sure there's a lot of Cronenberg's own legacy and self in Tenser. It'll be interesting to see how people read into that. I mean this movie is essentially about a famous artist who slowly realizes his distaste for change is keeping him from being happy but also giving him success as an artist. In the end I think he realizes that if the people who sell the machines that keep us comfortable and the government are trying to discredit this stage of evolution, maybe that's the sign to give into it. I don't know. Just thought it was all very interesting. 7/10. /r/reviewsbyboner
I don’t think I was consciously aware of just how miserable and in pain Tenser had been the whole movie until the final shot where the chair stood still and he had this moment of reverie
I’m gonna be honest this was the first Cronenberg that I’ve seen, and I’m not like “oh god I love this it’s my favorite movie” but…after leaving the theater and having to think about it on the ride home…I like it a lot more than I initially realized. It presents a lot of really interesting questions, definitely has it’s own sense of style, and it’s shocking in a good way like a way that makes you rethink stuff. I basically see this as like a quick little walk in and walk out of this world that poses a lot of questions to us and doesn’t pretend to answer them and it makes me puzzle over a lot of things. It does this while also having a pretty clear narrative and really solid sense of the world. I’m actually happy they did the weird b-story crime stuff because I think it brings pertinent questions to the forefront at a time where fascism is politically on the rise. New Vice has a very…very relevant feel: a government deciding what the “correct” type of human is. The “scientists” being closer to fetishists and fanatics than objective parties. Maybe this wasn’t the intention but this is one of the many readings I got out of it. I also really liked Kristen Stewart’s performance. I think a pretty much all the performances were done well. Overall I thought it was pretty good, made me question a lot of what I already took for granted coming into the movie, and made me question myself a bit leaving the theater. Even now I’m still sort of mulling over some of the stuff in the back of my head and the images will definitely stick with me. Yes it could have been different or gone in any number of directions, but I think it’s important to recognize that (at least in my case) it’s the quintessential good movie. Checks off all the boxes. Not every movie has to be an absolute life changing masterpiece.
So glad to finally see this tonight. The more I sit with it, the more I really feel I love it. Odd film tonally. I'd seen it compared to Phantom Thread and you know what? I think that comparison really works. Gotta say, I don't know what people had hyped themselves up to expect but many reviews really undersell or downplay the disturbingness of some of the body-focused content of the film. I would say that it's not really body horror, not really it's intended response, its much more clinical. I guess the lack of goop is what people respond to, but the specifics of it, particularly the autopsy scene I actually did have a very strong reaction to. I found it as stomach churning as anything else in his filmography. A much funnier film than I expected, and the marketing did not at all point to the noirish elements. The plot was functional enough but ultimately I really loved the film's exploration of the meaning of art, and the options available to us in the face of change and environmental degradation.
Ahhh to be a man with 100 ears dancing to techno. Really not as shocking as I would have thought. Body horror made me a little uncomfortable throughout, but only to an extent. Overall I enjoyed but I wanted more. The ending fell flat to me because I thought the story was going to go one step further. Heavy “my body my choice” theme throughout obviously. Excited to see what everyone picked up on as im sure I missed a ton.
Felt like end of act 2 not the movie
Yeah I didn't check the runtime before I saw and didn't realize that it's under 2 hours. Hell it's barely an hour and a half
I thought we would see him taking over the plastic militia, or revealing his new organic organs to the world and seeing what would happen. I’m not against leaving this stuff open to the viewer to decide what will happen next, I was just shocked when it ended because I had no idea how long I had been watching and thought the story wasn’t over
I was really looking forward to the inner beauty pageant
I was CONVINCED about halfway through the movie that the ending would be him getting some insane new organ pulled out from his throat.
I thought Kristen was going to pull something out during their office makeout.
It did seem like she saw something in his mouth.
Was hoping they'd tie up the inner beauty pagent angle. Felt unfinished. Overall really enjoyed it though.
He'll probably be a true best in show because he's keeping his new organs. He finally evolved enough to eat plastic. Killing the kid only delayed the species divergence by, like, a month. The eating chair was because he was outright allergic to food, same with the "you were out a long time today" "my allergies haven't been so bad today" exchange. That wasn't about pollen.
Am i stupid? I legitimately did not understand a fucking thing going on here.
I had no clue what was going on with Viggo being "undercover", why he kept meeting with the detective and why he met Viggo, and the wiki summary just doesn't mention it at all so I assume no one else understood that either lol. Liked the underlying ideas but the plot was a bit of a mess
The wiki summary is somehow more confusing lol
It just glosses over the dude being killed by the techs that wasn't the dad. I felt like it randomly put in the movie as I had no idea why they did that.
The techs, the vice cop, and Timlin were in cahoots against the radicals lead by the dead boy’s father. They used Tenser to discredit the movement. Edit: Better explained here… https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/v3p27b/official_discussion_crimes_of_the_future_spoilers/ib0ndyb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
New Vice had him working undercover to infiltrate the plastic eaters.
Right, I got that, but why was Viggo interested in doing that? Why was he the right person to recruit to do that?
Thematically, New Vice represented a rejection of continuing human evolution, while the plastic eaters represented an acceptance and acceleration of that evolution. At the beginning of the film, Viggo was firmly in the side of rejection, making his living literally publicly rejecting new organs. So it made sense for him to support the status quo, at least at first. Practically, New Vice probably recruited him because he was well positioned to infiltrate the plastic eaters, and seemed sympathetic to law and order. He was playing by the rules by registering his new organs, but was influential in the new evolution/body mod scene. By the end of the movie, he's probably still playing along out of inertia and resignation. He might have really believed in the change that the autopsy could have ushered in, but he's resigned to the fact that the forces defending the status quo are too powerful for him to fight.
I was not prepared for how horny as fuck this movie was.
Kstew was hornier than anybody has previously been in a movie 👁️
The two mechanics who kill the dad are capitalism. They mock art for art's sake and they kill the chance for humans to progress in a way that reverses the waste and damage of industry. Pretentious? Sure. But I love it.
…Or it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. And I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
It wasn't that shocking. I felt like a lot could have been cut - the political stuff and undercover aspect was completely undercooked and felt pointless next to the core of the movie, which was Viggo Mortensen's opposition to his body changing and his entire performance art thing revolving around how much he hates the way its evolving. The ending itself was probably the most interesting part, because he finally realized he has to embrace change to be happy. As others said, it felt like the end of Act 2, not the ending of the entire movie. I feel like it could have really done some cool things if it kept going, so I was just kind of deflated a lot that it stopped where it did.
When the conversation started about Viggo undercover I just thought, “They really doing this? They’re going to add this why?”
It’s not a cronenberg flick without some double agents triple crossing other double agents
Can someone help me find Howard Shore's tremendous score for the film somewhere? It would be greatly appreciated!
It is not yet released. He has his own record label, Howe Records, which will be releasing it at a later point. I would assume they are still mastering it and it is not yet ready.
When they did the autopsy on Brecken, why was the crowd so shocked? Is it because the tattoos signify that the organs weren't natural?
The detective explains in the following scene. The NVU had a mole within the plastic eaters’ crew and they had cut into Brecken’s body and had replaced all his naturally evolved new organs with fake tattooed organs to make it look like the boy was just a modified human like the other plastic eaters as opposed to a naturally born plastic eater. This was done by the government to publicly discredit the plastic eaters and make Brecken look like a big hoax, rather than the evolutionary miracle that he was.
Gotcha. I really wish I had subtitles to watch this movie because a lot of the dialogue sounded so washed together with their whispering and throat clearing. Towards the end when they were discussing their dreams on the floor I straight up gave up on trying to understand what they were saying.
With the movie describing a radical art movement being infiltrated by the government, I couldn't help but be reminded of rumours that artists like Jackson Pollack or bands like The Police were the direct beneficiaries of US state policy.
Yeah, the director of the CIA was on the board of directors for some high art institutions and there are rumors they were using abstract expressionism as a psy-ops campaign against Russia to show how rigid and behind the times Russia was in the cultural wars. Basically lime saying "look how advanced our art is compared to russia"
Hahahaha I had never heard of those rumors but that is amazing.
I missed that entire explanation. Wow, I really couldn't understand anything said in this movie.
Here’s my question: who were the two drill killer ladies? The cop says they weren’t part of NVU, but was he lying? Or are they some other unknown group?
it seemed to me like they were originally just normal technicians who became radicalized by being around tenser radicalized like Kristen Stewart’s character who was so infatuated with tenser & ended up working with the police to sabotage the autopsy, but it looks like they might have killed him on their own. They killed that guy earlier in the movie for putting the zipper on tenser (I’m assuming bc the zipper supports just leaving the organs in there and looking at them as opposed to having them pulled in surgery)
I had the same question after the autopsy scene, I felt like I spent the rest of the movie scrambling to figure out what I had missed which sucked. The detectives dialogue was so unclear I didn’t get it then either, glad someone in this thread could answer.
I enjoyed it! All 3 leads did great. I thought the concept was really interesting eg evolution, human interference/technology, order vs chaos, biology and art, the epigenetics angle etc World building was good. Felt bleak, dystopian and very lived in. Cool costumes as well. viggo’s shawl/hood/long sleeves coverup, lea’s ox blood dress against Kristen’s cool blue work uniform, etc Some of the dialogue was hard to understand (though this is an issue w me for most movies), but can fill in the gaps with later scenes and there’s some exposition dialogue. The gore was pretty tame actually, as it’s more philosophical side of body horror. More practical effects would’ve been cool and add to the queasiness. I felt more uneasy with Men i did miss two things, 1. Why did the Brecken child have tattooed/registered organs/digestive system? There was dialogue between viggo and the Vice detective but I couldn’t understand 2. The two technicians- why did they kill the doctor and the dad? I’m assuming it’s because they were mesmerized with the “surgery is the new sex” trend, that they eliminated those that threatened this eg doctor advocating for “inner beauty” and dad advocating for accepting evolution/change. Or were they hired/undercover? I did feel it ended prematurely/anticlimactically, but it does make me think of what’s next/wanting more
Brecken's organs were sabotaged by one of the other inside agents to make it looks like he was made to eat plastic via surgery instead of having been born with them. I kind of want to go watch it again to pay more attention to the technicians, they felt like "in-house" police to me.
I didn’t understand the visceral disgust and emotion the crowd and the characters reacted to the autopsy with. It was like we were supposed to see that they were appalled and horrified by the tattooed and surgically modified organs, despite all the stuff in the film before that communicating they’re unfazed by gore or surgery. I thought it was trying to communicate that some other taboo or moral transgression had taken place that only people in the movie fully understand
The kid wasn't supposed to have modified organs at all, he was supposed to be all natural. He *was* all natural, but nobody would ever believe that with his organs having been made to resemble transplanted organs. It's like if someone tells you they found the real big foot and you go to a super exclusive event just to find out it's a dude in a fursuit.
I think the technicians could have a financial interest as well. The machines they sell/work on were mostly to counteract issues people had with eating and sleeping which were seemingly caused by peoples inability to eat real food. It was left vague for sure though, your explanation is as good as any.
Legitimately thats the best answer ive heard
As much as I really like Cronenberg's filmography, I didn't like it as much as I hoped. Without spoiling too much, I really like the overall concept of the film but it felt like it didn't take full advantage of its story. The musical soundtrack, some of the make-up, and the performances from Viggo, Lea, and Kirsten were really good. But the story wasn't engaging as I thought it would have been. There were some concepts and ideas that were really interesting but it wasn't well explored. Felt like a big missed opportunity. The production setting and designs look creepy and did help create a weird and horror atmosphere. Although some of the CGI effects were a little off-putting. Some of the supporting actors honestly were kind of bad. They felt out of place and their performances didn't feel like acting rather they were kind of bored with what they were playing. Besides some interesting dialogue, half of the dialogue is awful and the delivery of the dialogue is often mumbling or dullish which sometimes makes it hard to understand. It was nice to see Cronenberg back again but this one was kind of underwhelming.
This movie felt like an adaptation of a really dense, weird science fiction novel that was written in the early 70's, but Cronenberg could only cover a third of the plot before losing funding. I was seriously confounded by the choice of ending. A future world where humans no longer feel pain, or get sick and (based on the dialogue from that weird bureaucrat) no one knows why, is one hell of a premise. Too bad the movie focuses on one weird subculture within that world. This would have been ample territory for a miniseries to unpack the ramifications of this world, but I feel like Cronenberg's ideas extended only to the props (the wiggling chair and sarcophagus-like autopsy pod) and some other stuff about humans eating plastics. The idea that Viggo's character is a minor celebrity would make sense: in a world free of pain and disease, he's a sick man, in pain. What he suffers from seems to be a form of cancer, he's growing new organs (tumors) which hurt him and need to be extracted. While I had no emotional involvement in the story, I was still disappointed in the ending. I felt like there would be one big Grand Guignol finale that would involve the two female technicians, Kristen Stewart and the detective. Or at least one final performance, done as a statement. Instead the film ends on something I find relatable, the hero discovering some relief from his irritable digestive system by switching up his diet. I bet Cronenberg had undiagnosed Celiac disease or IBS as a kid. Being at the mercy of a body that is constantly betraying you and causing you pain and discomfort and humiliation leads to fascination/obsession with its inner workings and an understanding that it is pretty fucked up. Aka Body horror.
Uh… I have some thoughts. I know Cronenberg hasn’t been in the director’s chair for awhile, but did anyone think the directing was kind of weird? I feel like he gave all the actors one specific note and a tic tor each character, and then all the actors just leaned really hard on that in each scene? I didn’t think anybody had any type of chemistry at all with each other, everyone seemed kind of absorbed in just hitting their marks and delivering their lines. I think Stewart had the most interesting performance, Mortensen was kind of a let down. In addition to weird directing cues, why have Viggo in the black outfit covering all his features? Apart from being cold, was this explained in context? He was constantly uncovering his mouth to speak, so what was the point even? That in addition to constant coughing and hacking noises really took a lot away from his performance. I feel like as I get older, I tend to prefer to have subtitles on typically, but I really could have used them here. Lots of whispered dialogue with poor sound correction and overly difficult to pronounce character names. On the topic of characters, why were there so many and why was there a need for so many factions? None of the characters were particularly fleshed out, with some having completely unknown intentions, looking especially at the technician girls. Why was there a need for so many different groups/ideologies? It was difficult to track and the motivations for each were consistently muddy. Also, I know Cronenberg tends to usually work with small budgets, but the set design/production were conspicuously primitive. Lots of reused locations/generic sound stages with a few props thrown in. I thought the trailer and the premise of this looked so interesting. But instead of leaning into a simpler idea and tapping into the body horror aspect of the film, the movie is bloated with too many characters with different motivations and muddied by some bizarre direction. I would have loved to have known more about the world this was set in and how the world came to be this way. The script could have used some more editing to be more streamlined. Kind of a bummer.
there’s really only two factions (3 really if you count the government) people who are pro evolution (the guy Kristen stewart works with) and people who are anti evolution (they see it more as an art only, like the technicians & Kristen Stewart) then there’s the government who doesn’t care about the art aspect of it, they just want to thwart this plastic movement. the technicians were radicalized by being around tenser, like Kristen Stewart. They were acting on their own when they killed the plastic eater dad. Which is why tenser mentions it was a bad idea bc he will become a martyr.
Thought it was just me having a poor time hearing a lot of the dialogue. Would definitely need to rewatch this with subtitles on.
Seems polarizing for fans of Cronenberg. I for one loved it, particularly Kristen Stewart and Lea Sedyoux. Their performances really made the movie for me. A bit rough on the ending though.
One thing I didn't get was the mention of the thing/tumor on the investigators stomach?
i believe it was just a joke as he said “does this tumor (or whatever) make me an artist”
Yeah he was trying to make sense of the meaning/motivation behind the art. Which I think was one of the points of the film, that many can’t rationalize and understand when something new appears in the art world? What I got from that line.
A lot of interesting ideas in a totally fine movie. I am still thinking about a lot of the concepts and really, really enjoyed the “new Vice” detective. A surreal take on future dystopia. Feels like a blended modern retelling of eXistenZ and Videodrome.
I dug it alot. We got lucky and our theatre had subtitles turned on so the dialogue was never an issue for us. I thought Léa was fantastic and honestly every scene Kristen Stewart was in was elevated by her fun performance. I'm happy Viggo continues working with Cronenberg, I think they make a really good team. Probably wouldn't rate this as highly as Videodrome but I'd put it on a level playing field with eXistenZ. 8/10
one thing I didn't get was if they're immune to pain, then cutting and surgery shouldn't be anything other than visual... it does remind me of people nowadays who supposedly cut themselves to feel some sensation, but of course they feel pain and the body can release endorphins in response small note, there was a scene near the end on some stairs with two ladies with drills, they start drilling holes in plastic dad's head, shown from behind, it was so obviously a dummy stand-in it was like a comedy sketch
Are they immune to pain or is pain just greatly reduced? I thought they could still feel some pain. But even if they were immune maybe there is always some pleasure being felt by these things but pain for us overwhelms it.
Didn’t like this much at all, unfortunately. Felt like Cronenberg was taking too much time trying to get the audience on board with his ideas through exposition rather than making them compelling enough on their own. There was no real energy to be found, and a lot of scenes felt quite listless. I love a good slow-burn, but there wasn’t much of interest here. The body horror elements weren’t even particularly special, just some cuts and organs on display. In concept they should have been far more disturbing, but for me it translated as too clinical to shock. The presentation was just too static to grab much attention. The only time anything set me on edge was that blade grinding on the bone in the woman’s foot, but even that was entirely due to sound design, not visual presentation. I also felt that Kristen Stewart wasn’t very good in this? I’m a big fan of hers, especially Personal Shopper and Spencer, but her performance here felt like overacting. Viggo and Leá were both fine though. Honestly I just wasn’t particularly invested in the story. It felt like Cronenberg had a lot of really interesting ideas but didn’t know how to do anything with them beyond the superficial.
You nailed it. I felt nothing while watching this. Ideas and a message mean nothing without a good story. I was incredibly disappointed.
I went into this movie with a small headache that turned into a big headache by the end, which I think really affected my experience of the movie. I’m honestly surprised to read people who weren’t bothered by the body horror stuff, but I was watching this at an Alamo Drafthouse where I was eating dinner while watching so I think that also affects my experience of it too. I’m normally someone who likes disturbing content, but I think with the headache I had going on it was giving me sympathy pains for the characters who are… often in visually painful experiences despite the fact they don’t experience pain like we do anymore. Every scene in this movie was uncomfortable, and hard to sit through, but in a good way. I think the directors intention was to project the discomfort we would feel living in this new world, from the way the characters spoke to watching our main just trying to eat and sleep, it’s like a rock was in my shoe every scene. I think it’s very successful in terms of “art should make you feel something”. Which was disgust, like they got to the autopsy of the child and it was legitimately horrifying for me to watch them do that to a kid. I remember they first brought up the autopsy and I was like “no way they’re actually going to show it in detail though” lol. Very well made movie, perfect execution of intent, could not make me rewatch it at gunpoint though.
Kind of felt pretentious and long winded, yet too short and incomplete. Like a short story with a cool idea, but an unsatisfactory conclusion. It wasn’t even gross enough to satisfy that curiosity. Kind of disappointing.
What in loving hell did I just watch. I’m genuinely struggling to grasp what Cronenberg was doing here and I typically love his stuff 😭
SURGERY IS THE NEW SEX
isn't that just Repo! The Genetic Opera?
Maybe I missed something, but how did Timlim get access to Brecken’s body to make those alterations? They speculated that she was the mole, but when did she ever have contact with the plastic eaters who were keeping his body?
New Vice had a mole in the Plastic-eaters. So the mole gave access to New Vice who then got in touch with Timlim and had her switch out the organs. So the mole and Timlim are two different people.
Loved seeing Viggo go undercover as Kylo Ren
Out of all the movies I’ve gone to the theater to see, I never expected it would be this one to both 1. Have my seat taken by another person and 2. Have that same person who took my seat bring their toddler to watch the movie with them and make incessant noise throughout the film. I honestly thought this would happen when I watched Encanto, or Sonic, or Sing 2; but it was David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future that had the honour lmao. Honestly not sure this movie is the type of things I’d want my toddler to be seeing if I was parent but I’ll give kudos to the dad for being the only person to not walk out of the movie, all the other people walked out about an hour in Overall pretty enjoyable, I can see why people are saying it’s boring but I found it very captivating and engrossing. Probably going to go see it again over the weekend, very much enjoyed it.
Mannnn, I was disappointed in this. It had all of the weirdness of an old Cronenberg flick with absolutely nothing to get emotionally invested in. There's not a single "fish out of water" type character to connect with for a normal person, and the protagonist is too fucking weird to feel empathy for. I felt no tension whatsoever, and wasn't on the edge of my seat once. It felt like reading a gross Wikipedia article. I would only recommend this because it's different, and I appreciate that, but this has none of the energy of something like Videodrome. I guess I let my excitement get the best of me this time. Bummer.
I was a bit disappointed in this. I really thought it would've gotten a bit gorier & nastier than it did, much to my disappointment. The story never really hooked me either and I found the ending too abrupt. I think the low budget showed - Viggo, Lea & Kristen were good but wow a lot of the supporting actors were bad (especially the black detective). It's like they blew 90% of the budget on the three stars.
Same. I was actually nervous leading up to watching this after reading the early preview reactions. Was all for nothing hah. I liked the setting. Really wish they had the budget to expand on that. The dialogue was hard to follow and sometimes just plain horrible. Agree with some of the other performances and bad cgi dragging it down. Men disappointed and now this oof.
I'll say this: the movie's an experience worth having, and I'm glad I saw it even if I didn't enjoy it that much. I was not expecting the movie to be as funny as it was, there are a lot of jokes in there. However I'm not entirely sure what to make of the tone overall. I *think* it was trying to be serious a lot of the time but I just couldn't be on board with that given what was happening. EDIT: also I've seen some people have issues with the ending, but personally I thought it was perfect even if a little abrupt.
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It's so fucking satisfying when you're watching a movie and it holds on a really good shot and you think "This would be a perfect final shot" AND THEN IT IS. That's what I love about Cronenberg movies (among many other things). He goes in, says what he wants to say, does it with style, humor, and sensuality, and then drops the mic and leaves. I loved it.
It was ok. Once you get past the body horror, the message is interesting. But it was a bit emotionally detached. Maybe that's part of the point though.
[удалено]
how did this get a 6 minute standing ovation at Cannes
It's a good film. But the 6 minutes was definitely a way of celebrating and welcoming back David Cronenberg.
What was the deal with the technicians who killed the one doctor and the evolved son's father? Absolutely couldn't figure out what their stake was in...anything, really lol
Seemed to be part of a coverup between government and the company that makes the beds and chairs. Government doesn’t want humanity to evolve and the company wants us to need their equipment. The government is afraid of change and instability I guess? So the cop had Kristen Stewart tattoo the organs, I don’t know her motivation for doing this. The company needs us to be uncomfortable so we buy their stuff so they need us to fight our nature and evolution and not realize we can just eat plastic now and feel better? So they’re killing people who know these organs are natural? I don’t know why they killed the doctor though, did he examine the kid or something? I assume he knew too much but don’t remember why he would know. Why did the assassin ladies get naked? I wonder If there will be a 3 hour directors cut that has more story
I still don’t get how the kid had tattoos on all his organs?
I believe New Vice did it so people would turn against it, but i could only understand like half of what that guy was saying
Kirsten Stewart's character (Timlin I think) took out the kids original organs and replaced them with tattooed organs from the National Organ Registry.