David Cronenberg Expects Viewers To Walk Out Of Crimes Of The Future
David Cronenberg's new movie, "Crimes of the Future," is the Canadian director's first film since 2014's "Maps to the Stars." The film, which stars Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart, also marks the director's return to body horror, the subgenre he's best known for thanks to films like "Shivers," "The Fly," and "eXistenZ." "Crimes of the Future" follows Mortensen's performance artist, Saul Tenser, who grows new organs within his body and has them removed by his partner Caprice (Seydoux) as part of their art shows.
Cronenberg is revered among body horror fans for a reason, and you need only check out those truly creepy-looking surgery sequences in the trailer for "Crimes of the Future" to understand why. The movie takes place in a futuristic world where humans use specific equipment to help them through basic life functions, and it also appears to be one where humans no longer experience pain (via Empire Online).
"Crimes of the Future" releases in the United States in early June, but it will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Based on recent interviews, Cronenberg appears certain that his new film will generate a strong reaction at the festival.
David Cronenberg said he's sure some audience members will walk out of Crimes of the Future within five minutes
In a recent interview with Deadline, David Cronenberg said that he expects some viewers to walk out of "Crimes of the Future" when it premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. In fact, Cronenberg said he fully expects people to walk out early in the film.
"I mean, I'm sure that we will have walkouts within the first five minutes of the movie ... Some people who have seen the film have said that they think the last 20 minutes will be very hard on people and that there'll be a lot of walkouts," Cronenberg told Deadline. "Some guy said that he almost had a panic attack. And I say, 'Well, that would be OK.'"
Cronenberg called walkouts at Cannes a very special moment for a film to experience. Cannes audience members walking out of films they disapprove of is enough of a known phenomenon among cinephiles for outlets like Vice to have written articles ranking the worst receptions movies have ever received at the festival, held annually in Cannes, France. One such movie that ranks among those too-disturbing-for-reverence films is Cronenberg's own 1996 effort "Crash," which ruffled feathers at that year's festival and even won an award invented specifically for the movie (via The Ringer).
As Cronenberg told Deadline, walkouts at Cannes are more expected than not for this kind of movie. However, he also said that he does not expect "Crimes of the Future" to generate the same outrage that "Crash" did 26 years ago, nor does he expect that everyone will be so affected by the movie that they will need to flee the theater.
"[Audiences] might be revulsed to the point that they want to leave, but that's not the same as being outraged," Cronenberg said.