David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future trailer shows return to sci-fi body horror

It always sounded as if David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future would be a return to the veteran director’s preoccupation with body horror, transhumanism, and weird, organic sci-fi — and the film’s first trailer proves this very much to be the case.

Featuring strange, fleshy technologies, body parts sewn shut or relocated to unfamiliar places, and scenes that confuse sex with surgery — as well as what appears to be a shot of someone eating a waste paper basket — Crimes of the FutureIt is easily identifiable as the result of such inquisitive explorations of human-machine interface. Videodrome, Fly, Dead Ringers, Crash, And Existenz in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.

Crimes of the Future which will be released in theaters in June, reunites Cronenberg with Viggo Mortensen, star of his much more grounded (but also excellent) ’00s crime thrillers History of Violence And Eastern Promises. Mortensen plays a near-future performance artist who “publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs,” assisted by his partner (Léa Seydoux). Kristen Stewart is an investigator for the National Organ Registry. She investigates the couple and discovers that they have a plot to make their fame a way to reveal the next stage of human evolution. You can see a French trailer that gives you a slightly different view of the plot.

In a statement, Cronenberg said, “Crimes of the FutureThis is a meditation on the human evolutionary process. Specifically — the ways in which we have had to take control of the process because we have created such powerful environments that did not exist previously. […] At this critical junction in human history, one wonders — can the human body evolve to solve problems we have created? Can the human body evolve a process to digest plastics and artificial materials not only as part of a solution to the climate crisis, but also, to grow, thrive, and survive?”

Crimes of the Future comes after a fairly long hiatus for the 79-year-old Cronenberg, whose last film was 2014’s The Stars and Maps. Brandon, Brandon’s son, was released in 2020 Possessor, a horror film that seemed strongly influenced by the older Cronenberg’s work.

It was also disclosed that Crimes of the FutureIn the main competition, the film will be shown at Cannes Film Festival. The winner of last year’s top prize at Cannes, TitaneCronenberg was also indebted to. It seems that Cronenberg is the Canadian elder statesman and horror filmmaker making a comeback when his bizarre visions are back in style.

Cannes also premieres the film Maverick is the Top Gun Baz Luhrmann’s ElvisBiopic: A new crime thriller by OldboyPark Chan-wook, director; French remake of the Japanese zombie film cult. One Cut from the DeadA new movie by Mad MaxGeorge Miller is the director. Squid GameLee Jung-jae is a star, plus many other things. It looks like it will be a wonderful festival.