★★★★☆
Brandon Cronenberg’s seductive, persuasive Infinity Pool continues the director’s fascination with corrupting our bodies. Read our review.
With a surname like Cronenberg, it seems that Brandon would only ever be known for the horrors his father, acclaimed Canadian horror maestro David Cronenberg, has unleashed into the world. Yet, Cronenberg Jr.’s first feature film Antiviral from 2012 was a titillatingly unique take on horror and science fiction.
Cronenberg’s second feature as a director, Possessor, pushed the director’s desire to explore body horror even further and while his latest film Infinity Pool doesn’t exactly break the mould, it sure does get the job done.
The film follows Alexander Skarsgård’s novelist James Foster, who is on holiday in an unnamed country with his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman). They meet another couple, Gabi (Mia Goth) and Alban (Jalil Lespert) who invite them to a day out at a remote beach. On their way back to their resort, they accidentally hit a man and James quickly finds out the country has very strict laws about death.
Credit: Universal Pictures
The price for killing someone is death, but the rich can avoid this fate by cloning themselves and subjecting the clone to the vicious execution. James, with no other choice, agrees to this and watches his clone perish. James is quickly enamoured by the chance to commit violent crimes and watch himself die multiple times over, but soon, the darker side of it reveals itself to James.
Infinity Pool is both sexy and disgusting, elegant, yet vulgar. As the plot progresses and gets increasingly more silly, the absurdity only highlights humanity’s strongest, darkest urges that are on show here with relentless fascination by Cronenberg. What Cronenberg is really trying to say is that we’re all animals and our everyday lives, our polished and carefully curated professional selves are only there to masquerade something darker, more primal.
Alexander Skarsgård is believable as the film’s sort-of protagonist. He is completely overshadowed by the woman of the moment, Mia Goth. Goth, as she was in the stunning slasher Pearl, is magnetic and electrifying here. She dominates the screen whenever she is on it. Her and Skarsgård’s chemistry is erotic, but he simply can’t match her overwhelming energy.
There is an admirable boldness to Cronenberg’s filmmaking. He explores many of the same themes as his father; issues of body and the horror that comes from our bodies being violated. Possessor remains his masterpiece, a piercing, intoxicating examination of identity and body. Infinity Pool, while still masterful, falls short when compared to Cronenberg’s own filmography.
Credit: Universal Picture
The question of identity is still at the very heart of Cronenberg’s filmmaking. Infinity Pool touches upon the question of how do we know it’s the close James is killing, how do we separate ourselves from this manufactured version that has all our memories and is begging for their lives as they are brutally killed?
Infinity Pool is also a cesspool of bodily fluids and gore. This is not a film for those who get easily queasy. The film made headlines when it got the feared, damning NC-17 rating in the US. Cronenberg ultimately cut some scenes to get a passable R rating, making this a commercially viable title, but the uncut version, with its tantric, disorienting and very full-frontal orgy scene, reigns supreme.
There is enough piss, vomit and cum in this film to rival the latest Jackass film. Infinity Pool is designed to be provocative and to draw almost a physical reaction from the audience. It’s not all for show either; the more James and Gabi violate the bodies of others and by extension, their own bodies, the further their very soul and being is corrupted.
Cronenberg offers us a dizzying sensory overload with Infinity Pool. It’s a film that won’t please everyone, but if you’re willing to watch past the brutalities and nudity, there is thoughtful exploration of what it really means to be human. It is as engrossing as it is grotesque. Whether you find the film repulsive or sensual, or maybe both, Infinity Pool is certainly worth experiencing.
Infinity Pool is in cinemas 24 March.
