David Cronenberg enters espionage, conspiracy, and longing in one of his most personal and evocative films yet, in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
David Cronenberg’s early masterpiece The Brood was a film inspired by his divorce with his first wife about motherhood, mental illness, and another outlet of self-reflexive criticism towards his own misgivings and expectations. 45 years later, Cronenberg has made a film about grief in the Cronenbergian way following the death of his second wife seven years ago using conspiracy, body-surveillance, and geo-technological warfare. A regular at Cannes, Cronenberg’s last four films have debuted at Cannes including this year’s The Shrouds. His latest film is a deeply personal mystery drama, capturing the obsession of yearning and love, and showcasing the peculiar sensibility that only Cronenberg can create.
The Shrouds has a revolving cast of Karsh (Vincent Cassel), an owner of a cemetery under his company, GraveTech and inventor of shrouds, a metallic cloak that allows you to see the body’s internal organs upon a screen. With the shroud in place, Karsh founded a cemetery with cameras to view the deceased with ultra HD cameras to see the bodies through phone applications mainly to view his deceased wife, Becca (Diane Kruger). Terry (also played by Kruger), Becca’s twin sister who is divorced to Maury (Guy Pearce), a tech-savvy helper for Karsh.
Beginning some time after Becca’s death, Karsh encounters an unidentifiable mark on the bones of Becca found in her grave plot. In constantly observing the body, Cronenberg, who’s widely known for his body-horror, continues here, but also goes deep into the technological world and its possibilities using the shrouds, AI avatars as personal assistants, and conglomerates including a Chinese company, ShiningCloth that helped develop the scanning technology for the graves. He’s aware of the uses of technology and its ramifications, introducing a geo-political element involving China, Russia, and Hungary. Their interest in the shroud’s technology becomes apparent, intertwining the lives of the four characters and Soo-min, the wife of a Hungarian businessman. As a result of these technologies and geo-political involvement, the unidentifiable marks lead to scheming between all the involved parties.
Karsh, who is a stand-in for Cronenberg’s feelings towards his grieving process, uses this rabbit-hole like construction to develop inner feelings of Karsh’s psyche. Bodies and technology are the most apparent motif, but those two unlock and convey deeper meanings due to their endless possibilities when working in conjunction. Like most Cronenberg films, what may seem simple and silly actually pull a deeper meaning upon reflection and repeat viewings. In The Shrouds, the feeling of longing is evident through Karsh’s multiple rabbit holes he goes down, asking if not Cronenberg, but the notion of grief’s everlasting search of closure.
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