Antiviral Review

Take a look at the modern world and it’s difficult to deny we’re in a certain amount of trouble. Pick up any magazine, flick through any social networking sites, and you’ll see we have celebrity on the brain. Brandon Cronenberg (son of cult director, David Cronenberg) has chosen this sordid affair as a launching point for his impressive debut: Antiviral.

                Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) works at the Lucas Clinic, a multi-million dollar institute that specialises in a very particular product: viruses that have been extracted from celebrities. In a world where celebrity obsession has reached dizzying levels, these diseases are the most intimate way for fans to connect to their idols. Syd infects himself with the diseases in order to smuggle them out the clinic and sell them on the black market, but after infecting himself with a disease that goes on to kill superstar Hannah Geist, he is forced to race against time in a desperate attempt to unravel the mystery of what is happening to his body.

                I can’t actually remember the last time a debut feature was so poignant, so keyed into what’s going on in the modern world. Brandon has obviously inherited his father’s keen eye for social commentary along with a vivid sense of style. Dependency on gossip, desire for more than just autographs, and the tide of nonsense crap that we consume daily in our desire to know more and more about glorified wannabes, it’s all here. Cronenberg flaunts his wit when he shows just how all this madness will end up, his script proves inventive time and time again; the faces given to viruses in order to determine their character, edibles made from celeb stem cells, cyber strippers, you get the drift. It’s a bleak and unsettling affair.

                The film looks dead sharp too; the cinematography, particularly the miserable palate, enforces a truly bleak dream-like world where the only real colour amidst the droll is blood-red. Bare minimum white-washed sets dominated by unnervingly large celeb posters are to be found everywhere in Cronenberg’s world. There’s some genius moments of body horror here reminiscent of early Cronenberg Sr; mechanical-human crossovers are unnerving viewing but if any real achievement is made, its making blood genuinely horrific. The parasites unseen are where our fears should really be lying, and after watching Syd slowly succumb, you’ll probably start noticing how few people bother to cover their mouths when they cough.

                Landry Jones deserves praise for a fantastic performance, one which becomes more and more desperate as the film progresses and hence, more riveting to watch.  Malcolm McDowell sneaks in as a Doctor interested in Syd’s regression, at one point admitting to him ‘I’m afraid you’ve become involved with something sinister’, surely  scoring the best horror one-liner thus far this year. It’s a wonder it’s not on the poster.

By the end of this ride you may be left wondering if the plot packs enough wallop, but in the face of the concept, style, and discourse, narrative can be excused ever-so-slightly. This is not only an impressive debut, but an important one, especially depressing when you stop to think, actually…this isn’t that far-fetched.

SCOTT CLARK

★★★★☆

Rating:15
UK Release Date: 1st February 2013 (Cinema) 11th February 2013 (DVD)
Director:Brandon Cronenberg
Cast: Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell
Buy:Antiviral [DVD]

Brandon Croneberg's Antiviral Coming To UK In February

Inject some celebrity into your life and take a magnified look at our public obsession with celebrity culture as ANTIVIRAL is released at select cinemas on 8 February and on DVD and digital download from 11 February 2013.

ANTIVIRAL marks the directorial debut of Brandon Cronenberg, son of legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg and features two hot rising stars in Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class, Contraband), and Sarah Gadon (Cosmopolis, A Dangerous Method) alongside veteran of the screen, Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, The Artist).

Having received positive reactions at Cannes, Toronto International and the London Film Festivals, ANTIVIRAL has steadily been infecting the minds of ‘Bodyshock’ fans.  Prepare to be shocked by one of the most eye-opening and thought provoking films of the year.  Syd March (Landry Jones) is an employee at The Lucas Clinic – a company that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to fans who wish to fulfil their obsessive desire for real intimacy with their idols. As well as working for them, Syd also supplements his income by smuggling viruses out of the clinic in his own body in order to sell them on the black market. Constantly ill and losing his edge, Syd becomes careless and infects himself with an unusual virus carried by superstar Hannah Geist (Gadon).

When the news breaks that Hannah has died, Syd realises that the virus running rampant in his system will soon kill him too. Hallucinating and struggling to remain in control, Syd must race to solve the mystery surrounding Hannah’s death if he has any hopes to avoid suffering the same fate.

As a first year film student Brandon Cronenberg developed a serious case of the flu. The illness proved to be the perfect Petri dish for the incubation of ANTIVIRAL. “During a feverish dream, I became obsessed with the physicality of illness, by the fact that what was infecting my body and my cells had come from someone else,” the director recalls. “It’s a weirdly intimate connection. I began to understand how someone like an ardent fan, might see this kind of connection to the object of their fascination as desirable. The intimacy of that link seemed like a good platform to explore celebrity obsession”.

Experience bodyshock at its finest when ANTIVIRAL is released at select cinemas on 8 February and on DVD and digital download from 11 February 2013.



DVD FEATURES:

·         Commentary with director Brandon Cronenberg and director of photography Karim Hussain

·         Deleted scenes with commentary

·         Behind the scenes  featurettes

Pre-order Antiviral [DVD]

TIFF 2012: Disturbing Trailer & viral For Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral

Like father Like son The official trailer for Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral has arrived online providing the body horror that made Daddy famous and what David Cronenberg fans have been crying out for, for a very longtime!

Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men:First Class, Contraband) plays Syd March a worker at a local specialized clinic which people people pay to be harvested by diseases which their idols/celebrity hero's once had to feel closer to them. In a era which celebrity obsession is at an all time high this film is very relevant as some fans do take that obsession to another level some you would call disturbing  as it controls their lives. Throw in the fact Syd also deals on the black market using himself as a 'mule' finding himself stuck in a web of deceit which puts his own life in danger. This looks disturbing, creepy very dark narrative but uniquely engaging something you would truly expect from the Cronenberg household. How would you describe this? Could you call it body horror? Thriller? Horror? Mystery? Probably a combo of all them with a big dash of Arthouse gyle  making this a interesting  film to check out, though I wouldn't watch this munching on your cheese nachos, hotdog or for that matter anything as this will freak some people out!

No UK, Irish or American release date just yet, Antiviral will make its North American premier at next month's Toronto Film Festival, so expect this before the end of 2012 or first half of 2013. Antiviral also stars Sarah Gordon, Malcom McDowell and Douglas Smith.

Watch the film's first clip and short viral clip too!