Crimes of the Future:A World of Surgery & Plastic

Welcome to a world where humans create new organs, pain doesn’t exist, people eat plastic, and surgery is the new sex.

This dystopian future launches the career of avant-garde performance artists Saul Tenser and Caprice. Their act consists of Caprice conducting live operations to remove the constantly growing organs inside him. Behind the scenes are bureaucratic forces who are waging war against anyone embracing this newfound evolution. Saul and Caprice get involved with two agents from the National Organ Registry who end up becoming seduced by the performers. While the four of them are together, an anarchist who snacks on purple bars serves as a messiah for the human race in favoring of following their evolution.

At its center Crimes of the Future is a vision of humans adapting to their decaying world by developing synthetic digestive systems to survive their degraded environments. Cronenberg’s latest film feels like a compilation of his previous works but the filmmaker emphasizes human needs to evolve toward survival. Even though this is set in a progressed future, its people are afraid and willing to suppress reaching the next form of humanity.

The marketing for this film portrays this body horror as gruesome and disturbing. It is a bizarre film but weirdly feels conservative in its message. Bodies don’t need sex and find pleasure in surgery, but in this world, the female body is still seen as a sexual object compared to men. This could play into the fear of its people not wanting to see where humans go with their bodily systems and ideas. Trailers always differ from the actual movie but I was expecting something more sensual and traumatizing.

The structure of the film follows Saul’s restless body as it switches genres in each act. As the film progresses it becomes a noir mystery with a detective and murderous femmes fatales. On top of his mystery that never seems to be answered, it is a love story between Caprice and Saul. Through their clinical art, there is a deep passion they have for one another that is brought together through the exploration of Saul’s insides.

Overall it feels very elegant and cool even if it is short grotesque moments of the stomach being opened. The intellect and visuals make it a pleasurable watch. Cronenberg is asking what are humans doing to the planet and how it affect the body.

What is next for humanity?