The third film from writer/director Brandon Cronenberg (son of body horror maestro David), 2023’s Infinity Pool, which follows 2012’s Antiviral and 2020’s Possessor, shows a penchant for the same bodily flair his father has, but also hones in on the devolution of humanity and the soul.
Following a married couple, James and Em Foster (Alexander Skarsgård and Cleopatra Coleman), he is a less than middling author, having released a single critic-slammed novel that has left the man with a serious case of writer’s block. . . while she comes from money and sometimes seems more like a patroness than significant other.
Vacationing in some unnamed impoverished southern island resort, James soon meets sensually doe-eyed dame Gabi Bauer (Mia Goth), a huge fan of his work, and her much older husband Alban (Jalil Lespert). Immediately drawn to the ego boosting couple, James comes alive with bravado, seeing adoring fans and kindred spirits in these two with seemingly good taste.
Despite some apprehension from his wife, the Bauer’s convince the Foster’s to leave the resort (a big no no), venturing out to an empty beach. After some imprudent cocksmanship and whatever the antonym of that term might be, the two fatigued couples return in the dead of night, the vintage automobile borrowed (which only has flickering headlights), the combination leading to the death of someone crossing the street.
The obvious cause of much panic and paranoia, it does not take long for the officials to pick up the couples. With an age old custom that the grieving family may exact deathly revenge on the perpetrator of the crime, the corrupt governmental system, in this film portrayed by a man named Thresh (Thomas Kretschmann), provides a second option: a rather vaguely described psychedelic cloning procedure (which costs an arm and a leg. . . or perhaps more accurately, a piece of your soul) that can create an exact double of you that will be killed off instead of yourself.
Dare I say disturbing, Em is perturbed to say the least, but James seems to get a rush from the whole experience. Losing his passport, being stranded allows him to be further seduced into a cultish group of survivors led by the Bauer’s and several other rich vacationers – who are enlivened by these rules don’t apply style of escaping the death sentence. Leading to some rather complex questions, how does one truly know if you are the original or the clone? Does the process have any side effects? I’m gathering you might be able to come up with some even darker queries.
Placing James in a rather dubious state of mind, this group of unruly individuals push the boundaries, getting kicks from being pricks (and that is putting it lightly). With his last guidepost in Em leaving him for home, he is now completely surrounded by peer pressuring weirdos. What will come of James in this dichotomous resort?
Delving into the depths of vanity, the dangers of wealth, and the relative ease of the corruption of the soul, Cronenberg most definitely brings the body horror much like his father, but delves into different depths with these intriguing observations. With James as our proxy, we see his seduction by a measly supposed fan club of two, his ego inflating to the point where he will do basically anything to keep the Bauer’s praise and attention. Rather quickly leading down a horrific rabbit hole, their wealth, unscrupulous morals, Bacchanal behaviour, vengefulness, and apparent unchecked freedom is a seductress like no other – perfectly encapsulated by Goth’s Gabi. It only makes sense for Cronenberg to walk a tightrope between what at first might seem like unmatched beauty, only for it turn almost unimaginably appalling. Humanity washed away in short order, these often quite good looking human beings unceremoniously expose their true selves – which looks much more like the deformed masks worn in the movie. It is a nice stylistic touch that it seems like the characters are almost never framed in the center of the shot, subtly suggesting that they are off-kilter, to say the least.
A thought-provoking, perverse horror indie that is not for the faint hearted (at times it is very violent and sexually explicit), Infinity Pool is intriguing fodder for those looking for something more than simply a scary movie. Though Cronenberg struggles to stick the landing completely, there is still plenty to unpack. So, take a chance on this film that is by no means a replicant (though it might feature some), it is a wholly original new feature.