The world of movies is just not as wonderfully strange without David Cronenberg, but thankfully his new movie, Crimes of the Future, sees the director return for the first time since 2014. From everything we’ve seen, Crimes of the Future fits right in with what fans have come to expect from a Cronenberg movie.
Here is everything that we know about Crimes of the Future, sure to be a fun addition to 2022's new movies slate.
When is the Crimes of the Future release date?
Crimes of the Future hits movie theaters on June 3 in the US and Canada in limited theaters. Check sites like Fandango to see if and where it is playing near you.
Crimes of the Future is going to expand its release on June 10. However, the movie does not have a UK release date at this time.
Crimes of the Future reviews — what are the critics saying?
The first reviews have come in for Crimes of the Future off of its screening at the Cannes Film Festival. As of June 3, the movie has a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes and 68 ("good") on Metacritic. Here are some snippets from reviews:
Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com: "Provocatively feverish stuff from the dearly missed vintage annals of Cronenberg."
Alonso Duralde, The Wrap: "Cronenberg continues to plumb his obsessions, both narrative and visual, and he brings enough energy and bravado to the mix to make this an oft-told story that he’s recounting as though for the first time."
Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent: "This is a film rich in ideas but with very little tension or passion. At times, it’s more like a cerebral art gallery installation piece than a full-blooded dramatic movie."
What is the Crimes of the Future plot?
When you sit down to watch a David Cronenberg movie, you have a pretty good idea that you are going to be watching something pretty unique. Many of the director’s movies are can be described as strange, visceral and even skin-crawling; Crimes of the Future sounds like it will fall nicely into place among his library. Here is the official synopsis per Neon:
"As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice, Saul Tenser, celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin, 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."
Is there a Crimes of the Future trailer?
Neon has released a couple of trailers for Crimes of the Future. The first is a teaser trailer shared shortly after the movie was announced as a Cannes 2022 selection. There is also an international trailer that offers a bit more footage. Check them both out directly below.
A red band trailer is also available for Crimes of the Future, in case the previous two didn't have enough body horror for you:
Who is in the Crimes of the Future cast?
David Cronenberg teams up with one of his most frequent collaborators in Crimes of the Future, as Viggo Mortensen plays one of the lead roles. Mortensen plays Saul Tenser, the performance artist that is showing audiences his metamorphosis.
Mortensen has previously worked with Cronenberg on A Dangerous Method, Eastern Promises and A History of Violence; Mortensen earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his work with Cronenberg in Eastern Promises. Outside of working with Cronenberg, Mortensen is known for playing Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and his two other Oscar-nominated performances in Captain Fantastic and Green Book.
Playing Mortensen’s partner in crime in the movie is Léa Seydoux as Caprice. Seydoux has been part of the last two James Bond movies, Spectre and No Time to Die, but has also had a number of memorable roles in the indie world, including in 2021’s The French Dispatch, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster and the Cannes-winning movie Blue is the Warmest Color. She’ll also star in another 2022 Cannes movie, One Fine Day by writer/director Mia Hansen-Løve.
The third lead of Crimes of the Future is Kristen Stewart, playing the role of the investigator Timlin. Crimes of the Future is the first movie that Stewart is starring in since her Oscar-nominated performance in 2021’s Spencer. Breaking out with the Twilight series of movies, Stewart has played more in the indie world as of late. In addition to her Spencer performance, the actress has received praise for work in movies like Personal Shopper, Still Alice and Clouds of Sils Maria. She also previously worked with Mortensen with the movie On the Road.
Other cast members for Crimes of the Future include Scott Speedman (Grey’s Anatomy), Tanaya Beatty (Yellowstone), Denise Capezza (Gomorrah), Yorgos Karamihos (The Durrells), Nadia Litz (Private Eyes) and Yorgos Pirpassopoulos (Beckett).
Who is David Cronenberg?
If you are not immediately familiar with David Cronenberg, he is a Canadian writer and director that was one of the pioneers in the "body horror" genre. His feature career started to pick up steam in the mid 1970s, but Cronenberg truly broke out in the '80s with the likes of Videodrome, The Dead Zone and The Fly. Some of his other well known movies include Crash (not the 2005 Best Picture winner), eXistenZ, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Crimes of the Future is Cronenberg’s first feature movies since 2014’s Maps to the Stars.
Fun fact, Cronenberg has already directed a movie titled Crimes of the Future. The first was made in 1970, but this new Crimes of the Future is not a remake of that original movie.
