David Cronenberg is widely known as a device director in his career. Films like Scanners, Videodrome, and The Fly were some of his earlier films in his career that have translated to audiences. Lately, that hasn’t been the case. Crime of the Future was just an abysmal movie. I don’t understand what he was going for. His latest film, not as bad as his last one, is still a bit hard to understand from my point of view. He seems to be one of those directors who makes films for himself and not for the audience who has to pay for them to watch them. That’s not a good thing.

Karsh (Vincent Cassel) is an entrepreneur who owns a company that gives families a way to see their loved ones. Somebody isn’t a fan of this and decides to ruin a site where a bunch of bodies hooked to the technology are vandalized. Turns out there’s a lot more to the story. The film also has a dual storyline involving a relationship the Cassel character has with the sister of a deceased woman played by Diane Kruger.The mystery is how these two stories connect.

Vincent Cassel is a French actor who has done it all in his career. Films like The Brotherhood of the Wolf, Trance, Le Heine, and Eastern Promises have kept him in the public consciousness over the decades.He has given quite a few great performances in his career. His character in this movie is quite tame in comparison to so many others he’s played. Combined with Croninberg’s sensibilities, he has a sensual and debonair side to him. As French rich men might have. I like seeing him in a more normal role, considering  everything the two of these men have done in their respective careers. He was good in the role even though the story was a bit strange.

Cronenberg has a weird thing about making films about odd topics like skin grafting, mind control, or viewing the dead using technology. Even his son makes weird movies using technology. Viewing one’s dead family members is a bit of a twisted idea, and the technology seems a bit real. Television shows and movies have created things that have eventually been used in society for years. Take the tricorder in Star Trek, for instance. I don’t think I’d want to see or communicate with any of my dead loved ones. It’s a bit too much. Hopefully, they wouldn’t want to see me either.

The subplot with the sister of Diane Kruger’s character was a nice respite from the mystery involving the grave sires. Kruger is a good actress, but she plays two characters here. One of which dies in a very weird way. The other sister is a dog groomer and looks different from her sister. She doesn’t have as much beauty or outer attractiveness to her, even though they are  sisters.  I can’t see Cassel ‘s character liking her after he has had her sister. One was quite beautiful compared to the other. It was just an odd subplot considering the rest of the film.

Filmmakers like David Lynch and David Cronenberg have developed a following from many horror or general film fans for many years. I am not one of them. I like a film here or there from the pair, but their sensibilities are a little too out there for me personally.  Croninberg picks odd topics to make his films about. Body horror and so forth as an example are not the everyday topics directors want to make movies about. I understand not being the same as other directors, but making so many weird movies to me is a waste of good talent. He could be making thrillers or more straightforward types of horror films instead of these odd ones. 

The Shrouds, while not as bad as the last Cronenberg film, isn’t as good as his earliest stuff. The main topic and subplot are somewhat interesting but not completely  fascinating to me. The plot had me intrigued for a while until it didn’t. The performances from Cassel and Kruger, in a dual role, are serviceable for the most part. In some different hands, this concept might have been more interesting to me. Unfortunately, it’s in the hands of David Cronenberg, so it came across as boring and not that intriguing.  I just with he, would focus on more normal themes and see how that goes for him in the future.

2 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen