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Antiviral
Syd March is an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans. Syd also supplies illegal samples of these viruses to piracy groups, smuggling them from the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills super sensation Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and rabid fans. He must unravel the mystery surrounding her death before he suffers the same fate.
As a proud Canadian, I’ve long been a fan of the works of horror auteur David Cronenberg, who has brought us twisted gems like The Fly, Shivers and Videodrome. Known as the “King of venereal horrorâ€, a name he actually revels in, his films have often been bizarre, grotesque and full of assorted nastiness. Apparently the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree if his son Brandon’s directorial debut, 2012’s Antiviral, is any indication. Proving to be every bit as disgusting as his father, he also proves to be just as adept at crafting a twisted fantasy that serves as a cautionary tale. When I first saw this film at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, Brandon introduced it and later, during the Q&A session, mentioned that he had never seen any of his father’s films. Personally I don’t know if I buy that; the similarities to the elder Cronenberg’s earlier works (particularly Videodrome and Rabid) are quite clear. However, if he honestly hasn’t then it’s simply proof that the Cronenberg name will continue to be synonymous with shock and awe in the film world for years to come.
"The new, new flesh is a mouthful."
Brandon Cronenberg directed and wrote the film and on the surface it appears to be nothing more than another gross-out tale. It wasn’t until my second viewing that I was able to peel back the layers and really get into the points he was trying to make with it. Of course, that’s not to say there isn’t more than enough gross-out moments to satisfy the most twisted horror fan, because there most certainly are, including some really nasty cannibalism sequences. In fact, the cannibalism isn’t even extended to simple shock value, as characters in this film actually buy cuts of meat of their favourite celebrities so that they can eat (and thus feel closer to) them. Cronenberg’s screenplay is a smart, scathing satire of modern societies sick obsession with celebrity as a whole, and indeed the film seems directly focused on the TMZ crowd. In fact, more than once he actually uses a pseudo-TMZ style backdrop to show stories of the various “ordeals†that certain celebrities are going through, while characters lament about them to each other. His filmmaking style can generously be defined as “minimalâ€, as he uses a lot of flat black and white throughout, but it all fits in with the theme of a world that’s gradually becoming less interested in itself than in the lives of others.
"Not exactly the kind of person you want coming through your door."
Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee from the most recent X-Men film) plays Syd, the disease “broker†and main character. As he is central to the film, it’s important that his performance is strong, and while he hasn’t been in a lot of movies he certainly doesn’t disappoint here. Since the character is usually infected with some sort of disease that he’s bringing back home from work, he also had to look particularly sickly, which he manages to accomplish to great effect. Sure there’s some makeup involved, but in all honesty who wouldn’t believe that a ginger like he COULD be infected all the time? There are certain times in the film where I genuinely believed he was ill, so a lot of credit has to be given to Jones for pulling it off so well. Meanwhile, there are an assortment of odd bit players in the film, characters that serve to further show how distant and disturbed this society is. One of these characters, Arvid (played by Joe Pingue) is a sick and depraved man who won’t stop at assaulting his “friend†Syd in order to remove (and later sell) the diseases he carries. Another, Edward Porris (played by Douglas Smith) just wants to be as close to his celebrity crush, Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon) as possible, to the point of getting the same herpes she once had injected into his lip. These characters are disgusting to be sure, but one gets the feeling they are the norms rather than the exceptions in this society. Even the great Malcolm McDowell (brought in for that important credibility factor) is not immune to this sickness, having several skin grafts of others attached to his forearm. To sum it up, nobody in this sick world that Cronenberg has created is above reproach, and none should be pitied.
"Looking healthy...for a ginger that is."
It is important to note that I don’t believe Cronenberg’s intentions here were to paint a bleak portrait of some future time when our own obsession with celebrity leads to a world such as this. Rather I think he was attempting to criticize the very notion of celebrity culture in the first place and to show that there really is nothing good that can come of such blind obsession. As I mentioned above, none of the characters in this film are likeable save for the celebrities themselves, and that’s more due to the fact that you feel sorry for them that their entire lives are on display for everyone to see. There’s a twisted moment in the second act where March encounters a Hannah Geist video display machine that allows the viewer to make her do whatever he or she wants; a virtual reality peep show so to speak. While I realize that the character would have set herself up for this type of exploitation given the old argument about celebrities deserving the life they wanted in the first place, nobody should be subject to something so sick. In a way, she becomes the only innocent figure here, a tragic example of a society gone horribly wrong with its dark and twisted fantasies. As a sharp satire it works, as a horrific depiction of a world where the wheels have fallen off horribly, it does as well. Antiviral is multi-faceted to be sure, and each shows just how repulsive the world can truly be. God help us all. 7.5/10
"Tomorrow....don't let this dude in."
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