On July 10, the Ukrainian cinema screens will be filled with the fantastic thriller «The Shrouds», a new and probably the last film by the founder of body horror and a living classic, 82-year-old David Cronenberg. In one of his interviews, the director admitted that this film is extremely personal for him and even described it as «autobiographical». Its plot was the result of Cronenberg’s grief caused by the death of his wife Carolyn Zeifman in 2017. What Cronenberg talks about with the viewer and how he does it, we suggest you find out in the film review.
Pluses:
good acting from Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger; despite the minimal presence of body horror, this is still a completely Cronenbergian movie; the image of Kruger's crippled heroine will be remembered for a long time; the film leaves a strange but rather strong aftertaste;
Minuses:
It will not be an easy task to get through this meditative movie; it is far from certain that the average viewer will be able to feel the themes Cronenberg is conveying in the moment; some may be upset that there is much more drama than horror;
«The Shrouds»
Genre sci-fi thriller, horror, drama
Director David Cronenberg
Starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt, Elizabeth Saunders, Jennifer Dale
Premiere movie theaters
Year of issue 2025
Website IMDb, official website
Everyone has a technological genius-rich man his whims. For example, Tony Stark, who came to the screen from the pages of colorful comic books, designed super armor that even Thanos’ plans to destroy half the universe failed. It seems that the real Elon Musk is finally melted. But the protagonist of David Cronenberg’s film «The Shrouds» Karsh, after the death of his wife Becky from cancer, created a high-tech… cemetery.
The peculiarity of the unusual cemetery is that relatives can watch the decomposition of the bodies of the buried live using a specialized shroud. The 3D broadcast is transmitted to a screen installed on the tombstone, as well as to an iPhone app. The technology is called GraveTech. Karsh uses it regularly himself, occasionally looking into Becky’s grave, and he has carefully reserved a spot nearby for himself.
One day, several graves in the cemetery are desecrated, and the technology is hacked, making access to the broadcast unavailable. Karsh’s suspicions include everyone who might be interested in this development: from his wife’s former lover and later her oncologist to Russian or Chinese intelligence services interested in espionage.
Perhaps it is not necessary to remind you once again what David Cronenberg has done for cinema, in particular, the body horror genre. The genre of cinema, which is now back in fashion thanks to the incredible success of last year’s «The Substance» — the first-ever genre representative to be nominated for an «Oscar» in the «Best Picture» category.
And in August, «Together» — a story about how Dave Franco and Alison Brie will bizarrely merge into something single, is due to be released. The film debuted at the «Sundance» Film Festival, and critics everyone was delighted with the results, christening the film «the best horror of the year».
In «The Shrouds», however, there are only crumbs left of bodily horror — the terrible transformations occur in single scenes with Diane Kruger’s body (for all interested parties — naked). Instead, Cronenberg focuses on the character of Vincent Cassel, and it is not difficult to guess that it is Cronenberg himself, who is trying to process grief in this strange way. At the same time, this convinced atheist clearly hints at what he thinks about the so-called life after death.
And all the conspiracy theories about Chinese spies, Russian hackers, etc. that accompany the story are nothing more than husks. If you will, a life-saving straw that the protagonist tries to grasp in order to at least somehow explain the premature death of a loved one. But of course, there is no explanation, no instructions for such a case.
The narrative in «The Shrouds» is exceptionally unhurried and dialogic, another film from the category of those that critics like and audiences don’t like — just look at the respective Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Some people like to dig for hidden meanings and self-references (and this film has plenty of Cronenbergian ones), while others are simply bored watching almost nothing happen in the frame for two hours.
Cronenberg himself broadcasts something so intimate and secret that it causes an ambiguous perception, as if he were looking at the tombstone of a complete stranger. Yes, this experience is important for the director, because it is about his personal grief. But why it should be interesting to an average viewer here and now is an open question.
And it really shouldn’t. The director has long been in a position where they don’t care if the audience doesn’t understand them. For example, «Videodrome» (1982) was not recognized by the public at the time and failed at the box office, but now it is an undisputed cult classic, which many consider to be the best film in the career of a Canadian classic. It’s unlikely that «The Shrouds» will suffer the same fate, but who knows? Let’s wait a few decades.
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