CRIMES OF THE FUTURE
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Don McKellar, Welket Bungué, Tanaya Beatty, and Nadia Litz
Director: David Cronenberg
NICK
What is advertised as a grotesque body horror from writer-director David Cronenberg is actually an exposition-heavy, almost Shakespearean drama about a dystopian future. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me. Viggo Mortensen does an admirable job as the lead, but the rest of the cast (including a particularly annoying Kristen Stewart) don’t add all that much. Plus, while it contains some memorable moments, it feels incomplete as a whole. Crimes of the Future certainly isn’t a bad movie, and it does ask some interesting questions; However, by the end, it never quite answers them.
JACOB
More philosophical in its mission than plot-driven, David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future is unlikely to entice average moviegoers, but presents a fascinating experience for Cronenberg fans. The body horror master shows off his trademark tricks, of course, but they are embedded inside a narrative rife with existential questions. What makes us human? Can that definition ever evolve? What if we evolved? It runs a bit long and the ending feels like the beginning of most other stories, but Viggo Mortenson and Léa Seydoux are more than up to the task of keeping viewers engaged. If anything, it’s interesting.
