THE SHROUDS
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, and Sandrine Holt
Director: David Cronenberg
QUENTIN
While The Shrouds isn’t without moments of intrigue, it’s generally let down by a convoluted conspiracy mystery, stilted acting (especially from Vincent Cassel), and atrocious dialogue. Also, not that I’m exactly complaining, but why is Diane Kruger naked for most of her scenes? In any case, I want to give writer-director David Cronenberg the benefit of the doubt because I know he’s using this movie to work through grief about his wife passing, not to mention it was originally written as a series for Netflix; however, in the end, I think he might have been a little too close to this one to recognize its flaws.
NICK
Although I respect the man's work, I haven't been enamoured with a David Cronenberg film in a minute. Sadly, The Shrouds does nothing to change that. This is my least favourite offering of his in a while, in fact. A dialogue-driven film with poor and unnatural dialogue, the interesting story tidbits Cronenberg offers are quickly extinguished by underwhelming performances (Vincent Cassel has painfully low energy). Even the body horror and copious amounts of nudity feel disingenuous. I’ve seen many films about grief, but The Shrouds is one of the few to make me grieve my decision to watch it.
ADRIANO
There was a lot of discussion about The Shrouds that I had with myself driving home from the theatre. With writer/director David Cronenberg's latest meditation on grief, inspired by the tragic passing of his wife, I find myself both conflicted and loving it. I love the concept and ambition, easily, and I appreciate the patient nature and the sincerity that came with it, but I also felt that patience drowned some of its thematics a little bit, lacking a punch I was maybe waiting for. I was overall into this movie, but I wonder if a second viewing could be helpful.
BODE
When I initially saw David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds at TIFF last year, I struggled with it in ways that I haven’t with some of his previous late period films. I almost dismissed it, but there were enough aspects about the film that made me feel it earned another viewing. I’m glad I gave it one, too, because I found its clearly personal (and darkly amusing) portrait of the strange ways some deal with grief (in a digital world) connected with me more. I won’t say it’s one of his best, but it is another fascinating entry in a long career.
This film was reviewed by Quentin and Nick as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, respectively.