This week, Seth Lukas Hynes reviews Infinity Pool, Starring Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth
Rated R18+
3.5/5
The latest sci-fi horror film from Brandon Cronenberg, Infinity Pool is a compelling, gruelling experience, yet falls short of Brandon’s prior films.
James (Alexander Skarsgard), a struggling writer, plunges into a macabre, hedonistic subculture in the island nation of Li Tolqa.
Antiviral and Possessor, Cronenberg’s first two films, are extremely dark satires of celebrity culture and the acting process (respectively), but Infinity Pool satirises wealthy tourists committing crimes abroad, mixed with mild musings about life without morality or consequence.
James starts as a somewhat bland everyman, but this allows us to project ourselves onto him and see how easily we could be seduced into an exciting, sadistic system. After a hit-and-run incident, the first act introduces Li Tolqan justice in the form of doubling, wherein an exact clone of the criminal is executed in their place. Now able to act with impunity, James enters a harrowing, well-paced spiral, and much of the suspense comes from James clinging to his humanity, as charm and shame from rich friends coax him into further acts of depravity.
Mia Goth is captivating as Gabi, the ringleader of James’ transformation, shifting effortlessly from temptress to spoiled brat to madwoman.
Infinity Pool has Cronenberg’s trademark grotesque, neon-tinted imagery and droning electronic music, but lacks complexity. Antiviral and Possessor feature deep characters and unfolding conspiracies, but in Infinity Pool the doubling sci-fi plot-device largely takes a back-seat to James’ debauched decline. Some horror fans will find Infinity Pool engrossing but simplistic (and the climax, with its petty, bullying tone, feels almost trite).
Among recent third movies from auteurs, Infinity Pool is not as good as Nope or Men but better than Beau Is Afraid. Tense, disturbing and well-crafted but less sophisticated than Brandon Cronenberg’s other work, Infinity Pool is playing at select Victorian cinemas.
Seth Lukas Hynes
