The Shrouds
The year was 1838, when the entire world was permanently overcast, underlit, and draped in smoke, and everyone was unhappy and utterly humorless.
Starry Eyes
Co-directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer on a crowdfunded budget, Starry Eyes is a nasty piece of independent filmmaking and a prime example of the body horror genre.
Trouble Every Day
Trouble Every Day (2001) opens with Tindersticks’ swooning, doomy song of the same name enveloping the image of two figures—neither of whom are seen again—making out in the back seat of a car, their hands and mouths drifting toward what we imagine to be an inaugural sexual encounter.
The Substance
The Substance opens with its simplest, most natural image: a raw chicken’s egg, the yolk yellow and dewy, lying flat on a white background. A long needle full of an unnaturally green fluid enters the frame and is injected into the yolk by a gloved hand, causing the egg to jitter and duplicate itself. This successful test immediately demonstrates the film’s premise—a substance that can create another version of an extant being—but also references fertility.
It’s What’s Inside That Counts
Cronenberg hallmarks may ripple through Crimes of the Future, but the director’s transcendent return offers fresh flavors of food for thought.