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This week on the podcast, Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral.
Unlike most virus / outbreak / contagion films, where there’s a security breach at a lab and the virus gets loose, turning the populace into rampaging drooling creatures, the horror in Antiviral comes from a rogue employee who is smuggling out pathogens to sell on the black market.
And the viruses in question are ones derived from celebrities, so that people can experience “biological communion” with them.
As you might gather from the surname and subject matter, this one is an icky body horror effort, directed by David Cronenberg’s son, Brandon.
It’s quiet, discomfiting, and claustrophobic with an austere bichromatic colour palette.
The performances, especially by the very gaunt and captivating Caleb Landry Jones, are top-drawer.
On this episode of the podcast, putting both Cronenberg’s work in context, and exploring interior/body horror in Crash, The Brood, Shivers, and Dead Ringers.