Psychosexual body horror, with an emphasis on fetishized genetic metamorphosis and manipulation, may be the focus of the latest film to bear the Cronenberg name; however its creator is not the usual suspect. In Antiviral, writer/director Brandon Cronenberg capably follows in the footsteps of his father David, crafting a bleak and brooding sci-fi thriller in fitting with the typical family oeuvre (Videodrome, The Fly, eXistenZ and Cosmpolis included).
A not-too-futuristic world of celebrity commodification furnishes the debut of the younger Cronenberg, one pointedly indicative of the potential trajectory of the current obsessive culture. The fanatical populace rabidly devour every titbit and gossip item about their favoured public figures, relishing their tales and triumphs as well as their flaws and failings. Evolutions in science have furthered the fevered consumption, trading in the very cells of superstars. At the upmarket Lucas Clinic, willing buyers can share the diseases of their idols, paying to become infested with their illnesses.
Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones, Contraband) sells the dream of biological communion to the eager masses, while smuggling samples to cellular pirates on the side. His treachery proves dangerous and deadly, heightened by his latest acquisition – a mysterious flu infecting celeb du jour Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon, A Dangerous Method). Syd soon displays the same symptoms, but it is the nightmarish pursuit of fans and competitors keen for their own piece of Hannah’s condition that threatens his life.
While the influence of his father’s output is apparent, Brandon fashions familiar themes and aesthetic flourishes with an assurance and ambition that makes them his own. Within the strikingly austere imagery, complete with blinding sterility that offsets the visual unpleasantness of his blood-splattered premise at its most potent, exists a sardonic voice asking its own questions: on the extent and intimacy of fame, the manufacture and perpetuation of a public persona, the contract between stars and their fans, and notions of deserving versus earning such attention.
As a satirical culmination of this line of enquiry, Antiviral impresses; in eliciting a visceral reaction to its metaphorical on-screen repulsions – both enacted and imagined – it excels. The unnerving idea and slick execution combine to increasingly complicated and chilling effect, teasing and intriguing in equal measure as the stakes get progressively higher. Leading man Jones proves commanding as a cipher as well as a guide to the new world order of cult-like celebrity worship, with able – if sparing – support from Gadon, Joe Pingue (Drive) and Malcolm McDowell (Excision). Cool, crisp cinematography by Karim Hussainn (Hobo with a Shotgun) completes the clinical picture.
Of course, amidst nods to Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch, the shadow of the elder Cronenberg is inescapable, but Antiviral does not suffer from the comparison. Indeed, the smart and subversive film is darkly, deliciously scraped from the cells of the name that has become synonymous with body horror, and proves a worthy incarnation.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Antiviral
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Canada, 2012, 108 min
Screening at the 2013 Gold Coast Film Festival
18 – 28 April
http://www.gcfilmfestival.com/
In general release: April 25
Distributor: Rialto
Rated: MA
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