Crimes of the Future, the “unsettling” body horror film starring Kristen Stewart, is airing on TV tonight if you want a creepy start to your weekend.
The movie, from iconic writer-director David Cronenberg, follows a duo of performance artists – played by Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux – in a dystopian future as they commodify the act of surgery for a live audience.
Co-starring Stewart as a curious investigator hired by an organ agency, Crimes of the Future airs tonight on BBC Two at 11pm if you want to check it out.
Don’t worry if that’s too late for a movie viewing or you have other Friday night plans as the movie will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer following its airing.
Following its world premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in 2022, Crimes of the Future was controversial in some circles for its graphic violence, though many critics deemed it a welcome return to the body horror genre for Cronenberg after two decades away.
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Crimes of the Future holds an impressive approval rating of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes from 285 reviews. In their consensus, the site noted Cronenberg’s trademark “unsettling flair”.
You can read a selection of reviews below:
“Hypnotic, maddening, pervy and disturbing. In other words, vintage Cronenberg. The doomy slow-burn won’t be to all tastes, but its abstract, feverish images are pure nightmare fuel.”
“Our modern anxiety over everyday lives that are ever more suffused by technology… has rarely been expressed with such simplicity and intuitive rightness.”
“In many ways, the visionary’s return to body horror is an extension of his philosophical fascination with the human body but as a far more muted, reflective, and sophisticated affair that comes with age.”
“It may be more mystifying than illuminating when all is said and done, but it is certainly a uniquely captivating experience with wildly imaginative creations, interesting performances, challenging ideas and one of the best scores of the year.”
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“Crimes of the Future is very much in the Cronenberg tradition: coldly tactile and scrupulously gruesome, with an ick quotient high enough to merit screening in operating theatres.”
“It’s an extraordinary planet that Cronenberg lands us down on, and insists we remove our helmets before we’re quite sure we can breathe the air.”
Crimes of the Future airs on BBC Two tonight at 11pm, and will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after broadcast.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.