David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future” Trailer Is Unsurprisingly Weird

David Cronenberg hasn't directed a movie in nearly a decade. For his latest, he's going back to his roots, taking a title and themes from his past.

Crimes of the Future - not to be confused with Cronenberg's 1970 film of the same name - is all about body horror, the Canadian director's specialty. Viggo Mortensen reunites with the filmmaker, having last worked with him on A Dangerous Method. He plays Saul Tensler, a performance artist who uses his body for extreme entertainment. Lea Seydoux co-stars as his partner, who performs surgery on him as part of their act. Kristen Stewart is the investigator on the trail, hoping to bust their illegal act. The film had a long journey to the screen, with Nicolas Cage and Ralph Fiennes attached during the early stages in the mid-2000s. Cronenberg has made five movies since abandoning the project. Now he's returned with a pretty gross trailer, and I expected nothing less.

Crimes of the Future will premiere in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival. A limited release will follow in the U.S. beginning June 3.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.