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Movie Review: 'Crimes of the Future' is Another Cronenberg Masterpiece

Returning to his obsessions with surgery, sex, and bodily autonomy, David Cronenberg has crafted one of his best films in years.

By Sean PatrickPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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Crimes of the Future is yet another example of David Cronenberg’s favorite theme, bodily autonomy, the right of people to do what they want with their own bodies. In his 1975 feature, Shivers, Cronenberg examined how outside forces take bodily autonomy away from individuals by force. In Crimes of the Future, the sides are a little more even. In this strange Cronenbergian universe, the war between those who want bodily autonomy and those who want government control over how humanity is evolving has reached a boiling point.

Caught in the middle of this ideological war is performance artist Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) and his performance partner, a former surgeon named Caprice (Lea Seydoux). Together this duo performs an act in which Saul is operated on by Caprice and has an organ removed. Something the film calls accelerated evolution has led to Saul being able to grow new organs which may or may not have a function. He, and everyone else in this strange future, have also evolved to no longer feel physical pain. Saul and Caprice's art is a live surgery followed by Saul tattooing the new organ and displaying it all for the paying crowd.

On the surface, you would assume that Saul is on the side of bodily autonomy or in the case of this movie, accelerated evolution, given that he is publicly displaying his own surgery. However, in secret Saul appears to work with the government. Saul has a secret deal with a detective from the government’s New Vice Squad. Saul is feeding Detective Cope (Welket Bungue) information about people who are pushing the boundaries of evolution and seeming to evolve away from humanity. New Vice claims to protect humanity by preventing accelerated evolution.

Running parallel to Saul’s story is that of Lang Dotrice (Scott Speedman). The father of a child murdered by his mother, Dotrice is also the secret head of an group of Evolutionists. Dotrice and others have been experimenting with the human digestive system and are creating a way for humans to survive by eating plastic. Dotrice believes that eating plastic is humanity’s future regardless of whether human beings evolve in that direction as the environment is clearly decaying from what we can see outside of these plots.

Sneaking into the background of Saul’s story is a pair of government bureaucrats. Wippet (Don McKellar) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart) play functionaries at the soon to be approved National Organ Registry. Their function is to document the development of new organs and they have a particular fascination with Saul Tenser as a man who can grow new organs. In fact, they’ve dedicated their registry to Saul who has inspired many new entries in their log of new organs. Both Wippett and Timlin harbor secrets as to their loyalties in the battle between New Vice and the evolutionaries.

Usually when a movie gets political and tries to pull a both sides argument, I find that choice cowardly. In Crimes of the Future however, Cronenberg sells us on the ambiguity of each side of this conflict. He certainly doesn’t side with the government deciding what people can do to their bodies but he, at the very least, allows the government, through Detective Cope and Saul, to state their case for preserving humanity as it is. The film is sympathetic and the choice to end on a somewhat ambiguous note, one you need to see for yourself, indicates that Cronenberg is not taking a hardline specific to this particular situation in Crimes of the Future.

Shivers is far more decisive in how it opposes outside forces acting on the unwilling bodies of others. Crimes of the Future allows for more of a conversation about ideas regarding where humanity is headed in the future and what the best path forward is. Cronenberg engages in this conversation without becoming wishy washy or straining to give each side a chance to argue. A terrific example of this comes in a late in the film set piece involving an autopsy that leaves everyone shocked and appalled.

As much as we look forward to Cronenberg’s ideas, many others come to Cronenberg for the unique forms of special effects and body modifications. Cronenberg does not disappoint in Crimes of the Future. Saul has an incredible floating bed that cares for him through the night, a chair that looks like a human skeleton covered in new skin that rotates to help him digest food, and what used to be an autopsy machine that Saul and Caprice have modified for their surgical performances. Each of these set pieces are extraordinary in their own way.

Then there is the acting which is first rate across the board. Viggo Mortenson delivers a remarkably physical and compelling performance as Saul. Seeming to fight his own evolution throughout the movie, it’s fascinating to watch Mortenson bring the character to a place of ambiguity, confusion and overall defiance of anyone who thinks they know what the future holds. Mortenson’s chemistry with Seydoux is off the charts and their uniquely surgical approach to sexuality is shocking and bold on the part of both actors, as well as being classically, fearlessly, from the mind of David Cronenberg.

Much buzz has surrounded Kristen Stewart’s performance in Crimes of the Future but fans of hers may be a little disappointed. Stewart appears to have taken a relatively small role in Crimes of the Future either for the chance to work with Cronenberg or as a way of lending a little star-power to a movie that could use a little star-power to survive the modern movie marketplace. Don’t get me wrong, Cronenberg has a successful niche but it is much easier to get a movie made when you can tell people that Kristen Stewart is in the cast.

That said, Stewart delivers a full bodied performance in her limited screen time. She and Don McKeller’s Wippett are unwittingly at odds with each other in the battle between the government and the evolutionaries and that is a unique dynamic. Then there is Timlin’s fascination with Tenser which has a strong sexual attraction involving Tenser’s very unique art-form and evolutionary ability. At one point, another character states bluntly that "Surgery is the new Sex" and let’s just say that both Stewart and Seydoux embody that statement.

Crimes of the Future is incredibly absorbing, a fascinating movie of ideas and intrigue. It’s also an extraordinarily accomplished movie from one of the finest directors of our time. David Cronenberg’s unique artistry and remarkable mind never fail to compel, even as not all of his movies are as accomplished as Crimes of the Future. A bad or mediocre David Cronenberg effort is still better than what most other directors have created. Thus, since Crimes of the Future is one of Cronenberg’s best works, it’s also among the best movies of this year.

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About the Creator

Sean Patrick

Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.

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