Just as iconic filmmaker David Cronenberg predicted earlier this month, audience members indeed left the Cannes Film Festival debut screening on Monday of Crimes of the Future early. According to IGN–and also previously specifically promised by Cronenberg–many attendees left during the first five minutes.
Another mass exodus occurred later in the screening “during a particularly grotesque scene involving Léa Seydoux and an open wound.” In other words, Cronenberg is back.
“There are some very strong scenes,” said Cronenberg in early May. “Some of the people who have seen the film have said that they think the last 20 minutes will be very hard on people, and that there’ll be a lot of walkouts. Some guy said that he almost had a panic attack… But I’m not convinced that that will be a general reaction.” Cronenberg then added with a laugh that walkouts at Cannes would be a “very special thing.”
The director’s comments work both as inspired marketing for the long-awaited film, and also a sobering warning to those who have had to grit their teeth through Cronenberg’s previous films. In early May, a new red band trailer for Crimes of the Future was released, and it didn’t disappoint. (You can watch it above.) Open wounds, disembodied ears, and lots of other deeply upsetting visuals abound–all in classic Cronenberg body-horror style.
A synopsis reads as follows: “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), celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed… Their mission–to use Saul’s notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.”
Crimes of the Future also reunites Cronenberg with Mortensen, who starred in the director’s movies A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and A Dangerous Method.
Crimes of the Future is due for a June 3 release.
