As iconic filmmaker David Cronenberg predicted earlier this month, members of the public left the screening of the Cannes Film Festival debut on Crimes of the Future Monday. According to IGN, and also specifically promised previously by Cronenberg, many attendees left during the first five minutes.
Another mass exodus took place later in the screening “during a particularly grotesque scene involving Léa Seydoux and an open wound”. In other words, Cronenberg is back.
“There are very strong scenes,” Cronenberg said in early May. “Some people who have seen the film have said that they believe that the last 20 minutes will be very hard for people and that there will be a lot of leaks. Someone said that he almost had a panic attack … But I’m not convinced it’s a general reaction. ” Cronenberg then added with a laugh that going to Cannes would be a “very special thing”.
The director’s comments serve both as inspiring marketing for the long-awaited film, as well as an overwhelming warning to those who have had to grit their teeth through Cronenberg’s previous films. In early May, a new trailer for the red band Crimes of the Future was released, and it did not disappoint. (You can see it above.) Open wounds, incorporeal ears, and many other deeply disturbing images abound, all in the classic Cronenberg style of body terror.
A synopsis reads: “As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), a performance artist timlin (Kristen Stewart), a researcher at the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed … mission: to use Saul’s notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution. “
Crimes of the Future also brings together Cronenberg with Mortensen, who starred in the director’s films A History of Violence, Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method.
Crimes of the Future will be released on June 3rd.