When it comes to film directors, there exists a special tier of classification. In this tier, the director has reached a point in their career where they have become a definitive master whose name can now be used as an explanation. For example: Hitchcock, Lynch, Fincher, Scorsese, etc. Now, David Cronenberg may not draw the same attention as the previous examples, but he is just as much a master as the rest, especially with his latest film, The Shrouds. Written and directed by Cronenberg, The Shrouds continues his legacy of crafting beautifully contentious films through his choice of visuals, subject matter, and themes. And this time… we think Cronenberg finally won us over.

The Shrouds features a deceptively simple premise where, after the death of his wife, a wealthy business tycoon, Karsh, played by Vincent Cassell, creates a new technological technique to bury the dead. Through this, someone can visit the grave of their loved one and can physically see their body via an advanced burial shroud. Karsh uses this technology to develop a sort of luxury funeral home for the extremely wealthy. However, Karsh quickly discovers the numerous social, ethical, and political problems that come when someone tries to change how we bury the dead. 

Now, The Shrouds covers a lot of ground with this premise in 2 hours, ensuring no stone is unturned. The film feels so well thought out that you never feel that any aspect is redundant or a waste of time, but instead comes together into one big thematic meditation. Cronenberg does not seem to want to provide an answer to his question of, “Is there a better way to mourn the dead?”, but a space to show his numerous thoughts and theories of how we may or may not be able to change how we grieve. This makes for a rather chaotic film with lots of big questions, plot turns, and reveals that lock you into the story and theme. 

At the center of this film is Vincent Cassel as Karsh, who is styled to essentially be a stand-in for David Cronenberg. It feels as though the entire performance and essence of the film derive from Cronenberg’s real-life experience of losing his wife in 2017, with Karsh being modeled after Cronenberg. Cassel, unfortunately, has a rather intriguing accent when speaking English, which can make some deep emotional monologues feel stilted and wooden. This is not always the case, but Cassel is required to discuss numerous complicated subjects: Artificial Intelligence, Dark Web Hacker Encryptions, Icelandic soil patterns, and Cancer, all of which contain very unusual words to pronounce out loud. This makes for an excellent script, but not the most compelling performance. 

Diane Kruger plays three roles in the film: Becca, Karsh’s recently deceased wife whom he converses with in dreams and nightmares throughout the film; Terry, Becca’s near identical, conspiracy theorist sister; and Hunny, an interactive AI program designed by Terry’s ex-husband Maury (Guy Pearce) to work as caretaker, personal assistant, and “friend” for Karsh. Each of these three roles works as different aspects of grief for Karsh to work through, and Kruger imbues each of them with wonderful little quirks and unique body language that I completely thought Becca and Terry were different actors for most of the film. 

As previously noted, Guy Pearce plays Terry’s ex-husband, Maury, a slimy software engineer who gives off the ultimate divorced dad energy. Greasy hair, a terrible apartment, and some of the worst outfits you’ll see this year. This performance makes for a great follow-up to his Academy-nominated performance in The Brutalist, showcasing Pearce’s range as an actor. However, I will say that Maury’s plotline is insane. Truly a batshit web of mystery that may or may not lose most people on their first watch. Pearce does his best to make it work, but Cronenberg’s plot starts to really go off the rails as we get more involved with Maury, and well… it’s a tough ride. 

Visually, the film is classic Cronenberg framing and pacing with some interesting modern additions. The most memorable was the authentically bad FaceTime call Karsh had with an Icelandic scientist over the environmental impacts his shrouds could have on the Icelandic soil. Typically, one would just make the call seamless, but Cronenberg’s choice to show the real-life problems and issues illustrates how, while the concept is technically “sci-fi”, he wishes to illustrate it in a grounded, real-world way. Creative decisions like this show how nuanced and well-thought-out the script for The Shrouds is, which can be said of almost all of Cronenberg’s films; however, this time, he got me completely on board. 

Not to make this too personal, but for this reviewer, Cronenberg has never really clicked for me. I find most of his films to be ethically complex or thematically interesting, but rarely do these films stay with me or make a genuine connection with me. Crimes of the Future was one of my least favorite films of 2022, so I went into my screening of The Shrouds expecting to be mentally stimulated for about an hour, then move on, write a review, how it’s neat but not my thing, and call it a night. Instead, The Shrouds engulfed my brain as I continued to reflect on it for weeks. Cronenberg’s film lingered with me, haunting me like a ghost as I sat in my car for nearly 30 minutes after the screening. While I’ve been hesitant to say it before, after seeing his latest work, Cronenberg is one of the great film masters working today. While this film might be contentious for its lack of closure and disinterest in answering the thematic question at the core of the film, The Shrouds is another contemplative masterwork from one of our great filmmakers that I implore you to go see. It may not be for everyone, but engaging with art, either through creation or observation, is always a risk worth taking. Who knows, maybe this might be the one that finally gets to you. 

4.5/5

Written and directed by David Cronenberg, The Shrouds is Cronenberg’s complicated contemplation on death, burial, and grief. Karsh, a recently widowed businessman, develops a new technology in which one can preserve and observe the recently deceased called “The Shroud”. As he begins to unveil this technology as a luxury business venture, Karsh must come to terms with the ethical, political, and emotional ramifications of this new macabre method for one to mourn the dead. Starring Diana Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt, and Elizabeth Saunders in supporting roles, The Shrouds is produced by SBS Productions, Prospero Pictures, and Saint Laurent, and releases on April 25th, hopefully in a theatre near you.