Reed Alexander's Horror Review of 'Antiviral' (2012)

God damn, this movie was pretty. Can we just take a moment to sit back and appreciate that fucking movie poster? The whole damn movie is like that. It goes from sterile clean to noir gritty, back and forth in these beautiful contrasts that are absolutely breathtaking. One moment it's like you're in a hyperbaric chamber and the next you're in a butcher's kitchen among the grime and awful drippings. This atmosphere is to contrast the beauty of the celebrities that are harvested, and the fact that they are literally harvesting germs.

As the subtitle suggests, young Cronenberg has really grasped his father's ability, and run with it. He's got every bit as much talent and made his own thing out of it. Antiviral is compelling and gorgeous. I can easily compare it to Crimes of the Future (2012), one of his father's most recent. Atmosphere so rich every scene is its own framed piece of art. And can I just point out that Brandon did all that with half his father's budget? Probably less. This movie was indie, even if Cronenberg is a family name in the industry. It's a shoestringer, meaning the son is working his ass off from the bottom.

Now, this movie isn't really horror. It's a part of the modern Noir, like American Mary (2012) or Excision (2012). Even calling it body horror is a stretch and indeed there is some of that. People are intentionally getting sick, like violently ill, because it's the same disease their favorite celebrity caught. It's just so they can have a little part of that celebrity injected into them. This isn't even seen as unhealthy, but rather classy, an aristocratic pursuit. It's no different than buying a painting or a record. There are even restaurants where you can get cuts of meat grown from the stem cells of these celebrities.

So, given all that, the plot surrounds a viral smuggler who gets diseases from these celebrities and sells them on the black market. Through this, he gets the opportunity to contract an unknown virus from one of the world's greatest celebrities. In order to smuggle it he infects himself with it but then discovers the disease is deadly and there is no known cure. The thing is, he hesitates to sell it. Not because it can kill people, but because he truly seems to want it, like it makes him a part of the celebrity he so very much worships. This opens up a conspiracy involving the celebrity, the viral clinic the main character works for, and indeed the viral market at large. Not to mention, running afoul of the disease smugglers. It really is fantastic writing. Cronenberg Sinor should be proud, hell, he should be jealous.

And let's talk about the acting. Caleb Landry Jones is just fucking brilliant. Not only does he sell being a shifty, high society, sycophant, but his character slowly degrades over the course of the movie from this incurable illness and he sells the shit out of that too. It's almost like body horror to watch him slowly succumb to the virus, all acting, mind you. There are next to no practical effects in this change.

So this movie has atmosphere, story, and acting all to carry what is otherwise a pretty low-budget film. Really, it is quite brilliant and I hope to see more from Brandon in the future.

No spoilers. I genuinely want you to watch this and discover it for yourself. I am going to add this to my 'Must Watch' list and include it in my All-Time Best Modern Noir list.