Crimes of the Future

Neon | Release Date: June 3, 2022

6.2	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 73 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Watch Now

Stream On

Expand

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

moviemitch96Jun 4, 2022

In a dystopian future in which pain has been almost completely eradicated, a man (Viggo Mortensen) makes a name for himself by taking advantage of this by putting his body up on display many times as it undergoes several graphic surgicalIn a dystopian future in which pain has been almost completely eradicated, a man (Viggo Mortensen) makes a name for himself by taking advantage of this by putting his body up on display many times as it undergoes several graphic surgical procedures as a form of artistic value and expression with the help of his partner (Lea Seydoux). Brought to us from the father of body horror himself David Cronenberg, known for such grotesque films as 'The Fly', 'Videodrome', and the sexually explicit 'Crash', along with some of his more tame yet still very violent crime films 'A History of Violence' and 'Eastern Promises', this film has his signature style written all over it, from the moody and dark atmosphere and set pieces to the graphic imagery and body mutilation presented throughout. However, this sadly doesn't make up for a narratively vague presentation, along with subpar performances from all involved. The usually brilliant Mortensen is reduced to not much more beyond a raspy voice for the entirety of the film and wears a silly cloak while Kristen Stewart also appears throughout the film in a rather forced-feeling performance as well. Story-wise, the film seems to just wander around aimlessly and relies heavily on the body horror aspects in order to distract from this, but it simply doesn't work. Overall, besides the often impressive and graphic makeup and imagery throughout, the film is almost completely forgettable and devoid of a sensible story, along with subpar performances from an otherwise talented cast. Sad to say that this is one of Cronenberg's weakest films to date.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

All this user's reviews

marlAug 8, 2022

It doesn't take much to tip a Cronenberg film into the ridiculous oft time a simple sentence can make an entire movie risible. ( Are you afraid to jump into the plasma pool?).
Henceforth this film is suffering the Christopher Nolan effectIt doesn't take much to tip a Cronenberg film into the ridiculous oft time a simple sentence can make an entire movie risible. ( Are you afraid to jump into the plasma pool?).
Henceforth this film is suffering the Christopher Nolan effect whereby the audience is too stupid to divine any meaning and multiple viewings are necessary to do so.
I love dead ringers and Eastern Promises... I'm puzzled as to why he's returned to this 'body-horror' stuff from some decades previous. This is weak and embarrassing in spite of the presence of several very good actors and partially owing to a terrible one.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

levin24Jun 15, 2022

disgusting but still really interesting and good! i liked the themes of politics and the environment.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

CaptainHowdyJun 23, 2022

'Crimes of the Future' plays like classic Cronenberg, getting into levels of weird and unsettling that are reminiscent of 'Naked Lunch.' There are also a lot of the elements Cronenberg is known for, most notably the merging of biology and'Crimes of the Future' plays like classic Cronenberg, getting into levels of weird and unsettling that are reminiscent of 'Naked Lunch.' There are also a lot of the elements Cronenberg is known for, most notably the merging of biology and technology.

However, the film suffers from an unusual problem for directors: Cronenberg has far too many ideas. While other directors will suffer from too few, he has loads of them. He just seems to have a hard time discerning which ones are good or bad or just unnecessary. They all get thrown into the mix, and they are all given far less screen time than they need to develop. In the end, none of them do.

As a result, the audience is also fed a steady stream of characters whose motives are unclear. We meet one, find out a little bit about their background, then move on and don't revisit them until much later on. Characters with no known connection are later shown to have some sort of link, but that link is never made completely clear.

In short, it looks and feels like a Cronenberg film in just about every way you could imagine. However, the muddled plot and half-baked ideas left me much more confused at the end of this film than I was at the beginning.

I'll leave this one for Cronenberg completists only.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

All this user's reviews

Voodoo123Jul 30, 2022

Some interesting trans humanism imagery mixed in with cronenbergs trademark body horror visual themes and art style. The production value is decent with a compelling cast and soundtrack. For me I guess the world and screenplay were just thatSome interesting trans humanism imagery mixed in with cronenbergs trademark body horror visual themes and art style. The production value is decent with a compelling cast and soundtrack. For me I guess the world and screenplay were just that bit too abstract for its own sake that I couldn't connect to the material - maybe that's because I'm already munching on plastic wastepaper bins! Very watchable trashy and digestible from the comfort of your breakfast chair.… Expand