Films for Breakfast

Meditations on grief are a dime-a-dozen in the horror/thriller/sci-fi genres, but if there is anyone to step outside of that box and deliver something truly different, it would be David Cronenberg. True to his inherent style, The Shrouds pushes boundaries within its central theme – the film follows Karsh (Vincent Cassel), an entrepeneuer who in the afrermath of losing his beloved wife designs a machine to communicate with deceased individuals long after they’re gone and watch their corpse anytime you please. Within the opening minutes of the film, it becomes apparent that this subject matter is perfect for Cronenberg to chew on.

The best thing I can say about The Shrouds, and this really applies to the entirerty of Cronenberg’s body of work, is that it is supremely fascinating and there is a ton of underlying themes to dissect. I think there is a greatly fascinating angle here about our relationships with the dead, and our fascination with our own misunderstanding at what those people are to us now. Tonally, Cronenberg really strikes the right chord here – the film coasts between existential, humorous, and eery in equal measure; this is one of his specialities as a filmmaker, and he doesn’t disappoint on all of those fronts.

The film has a fairly impressive cast, with Guy Pearce and Diane Kruger turning in solid performances. However, it’s really Vincent Cassel’s show, who is predictably excellent, as he is in nearly everything he appears in. Cassel wonderfully exudes the complicated nature of Karsh as a man who has a substantial amount of wealth, technology, and knowledge at his disposal but is plagued by the inevitaiblity of death and trying to understand it. Cassel really digs into the character and brings all of his quirks to life in fun and effective ways.

My big complaint against The Shrouds is that the film becomes signficantly less interesting when it gets into the mechanics of its own plot, and tries to create a central conflict and mystery that I found rather boring. Instead, I found the moments where Karsh wrestles with the technology at his disposal and the relationships he has with both the living and the dead to be the most compelling aspects of the film. This isn’t to say the film is void of intrigue and that the good elements fade when the plot kicks in, but I wish it found a better balance of these ideas to where it felt more satisfying by the end.

Ultimately, The Shrouds fits nicely into Cronenberg’s late-stage career – not quite topping the likes of his classics such as Crash, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises or The Fly – just to name a few. However, it pairs well with another recent film of his, Crimes of the Future – a film I found fascinating and frustrating in equal measure. The Shrouds is a touch better than that one for my money as it more eloquently explores its themes, but it fails to exceed a certain threshold by the end that makes it particularly memorable compared to Cronenberg’s entire body of work.