David Cronenberg's Son Tackles "Antiviral" with Malcolm McDowell

[Authorize]

Brandon Cronenberg is following in his filmmaker father's footsteps with a debut feature about disease and a celebrity-obsessed culture.

The son of "A Dangerous Method" director David Cronenberg begins shooting "Antiviral" next week in Hamilton and Toronto.

Brandon Cronenberg wrote and directed the thriller, which centres on an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans.

"Antiviral" stars Caleb Landry Jones of "X-Men: First Class," Sarah Gadon of "A Dangerous Method" and Malcolm McDowell of "A Clockwork Orange."

Producer Niv Fichman of Rhombus Media describes it as "a fascinating mystery."

Principal photography begins Monday and shooting is expected to wrap Dec. 11.

Link

Sounds great. Let's see if his son has the talent like his father. Nice cast aswell.

​

 

[Lasirius]

Sounds interesting. Wonder how the whole celebrity-obssesed culture and disease spread is going to play out.

 

[Asgard]

Haha, sounds like a ridiculous premise until you read all those stories of these people who are obsessed with celebs.

Im curious to see if Brandon can be as capable as his dad.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

hopefully we get a zowie bowie situation here.

 

[Project862006]

First Look

 

[Project862006]

Cannes Review: Brandon Does David Proud, 'Antiviral' A Classic Cronenberg Freak Fest

There is no doubt that no matter what Brandon Cronenberg decided to make as his first movie, the shadow of his father would loom large. So whether it just runs in the family, or if it was a calculated decision to do something audiences would expect from the Cronenberg mantle, full credit to Brandon for taking body horror to the next level with "Antiviral." While hardly perfect, it delivers the freak fest fans of David have been missing for the past few years while establishing Brandon as a filmmaker with a bright future. A constantly glowering, long haired Caleb Landry Jones leads the picture as Syd March, an employee of the Lucas Clinic who trade in a rather bizarre business. In the world of the film, celebrity obsession has jumped a few levels, and Lucas allows clients to inject themselves with the same virus or illness their favorite stars catch. A unique scientific development allows Lucas to modify the diseases so they're not contagious. But of course, as with any trade involving pharmaceuticals, there's a black market, and Syd has carved out a unique niche. Using his own body as a vessel to smuggle diseases out of Lucas, Syd hooks up with Arvid (Joe Pingue), a twisted butcher who sells cuts of meat grown from celebrity cells, to sell his pilfered wares.



Syd's game is dangerous one, but in a world where the body is just another commodity, it's not beyond reason that he doesn't have much regard for his own health. After a collegue is fired for engaging in the same sort of shady dealings, Syd is sent on a house call to the hotel room of the beautiful and famous Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon). Lucas has the exclusive rights to her to her sickness, and they're eager to get a sample of the disease that has nearly killed her. Of course, Syd realizes there'll be tremendous interest from his own clientele and injects himself with her sample. But Hannah winds up dead, and Syd is sent tumbling down a rabbit hole where he has to survive long enough to cure himself, all while navigating a rapidly unfolding conspiracy. Brandon Cronenberg is clearly eager to make a name for himself and like most young film directors, "Antiviral" is bursting with visual flourishes and ideas. Cronenberg adopts a sterile aesthetic -- there are a lot of white, minimalist rooms -- a deeply mannered storytelling technique from the performances through to the pacing, that recalls Julia Leigh's "Sleeping Beauty" to a certain degree (the opening title treatment is not unlike "Antichrist" either). But unfortunately, these tics get in the way of the movie. Specifically, the film's momentum and sense of suspense is constantly being held back rather than enhanced, by the actors' delivery. And this isn't helped by a script that takes nearly half the running the time before the story really gets moving.

But where Cronenberg really shines are in the ideas he brings to the table. While Matteo Garrone struggled to say anything new about celebrity with his competition film "Reality," "Antiviral" delivers the satire that was absent in that film. "Antivral" is morbidly funny, using the current panty shot/cell phone pic driven media world as a launching pad to take it to an absurd new place that he makes you believe could be somewhat possible. The tone toes that line fairly, expertly both acknowledging the surreal nature of the premise, while leaning just enough on this side of reality that one could see as somehow happening down the road. "Celebrities are not people, they're group hallucinations," Syd's boss says at one point, and there's more than a kernel of truth in that observation. Though it takes a bit to get rolling, and while it's flawed in ways that many first features are, Brandon's first film shows tremendous promise. The second half is where "Antiviral" really shows off his stuff, with a deliciously dark streak and an undeniably unique narrative that goes to some fascinating, twisted places. It's exactly the oddball and crooked tale you'd want and expect from a Cronenberg with all the gratuitous blood, pus, bone and multiple closeups of needles piercing skin you could ask for. Dad, would be proud. [B-]

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayl...iral-a-classic-cronenberg-freak-fest-20120519

 

[EML420]

Thats good to hear and peopel are crazy about celebs on ebay I think you can buy hair people want there clones one day lol.

 

[Project862006]

Official Trailer


very creepy

 

[Project862006]

Official Poster

Official 1st Clip

 

[Doctor Jones]

I like what I see. Hopefully this is something cool and not pretentious crap.

 

[MOVIELORD101]

My personal thoughts on the trailer: WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN----.

Ok, it was either that or a very long post done in all caps of me babbling incoherently about WTF I just watched. That was gross beyond belief. And this guy directing it is David Cronenberg's SON?! Jesus CHRIST, at least David had limits to how gross some his films would be! Sure, Videodrome and The Fly were really gross, but you could at least tell those effects weren't real while still being entertained by them. The effects here? I'm sorry, but I've never been grossed out by effects like this in my entire life. They look way too real, and in my opinion, that's crossing the line. I had to cover my eyes towards the end of the trailer so that I wouldn't take a flamethrower to my Macbook and burn it a la Kurt Russell in The Thing (not that I have a flamethrower, but you get my point). I'm sure it's a good movie, but if I had to pick between this and Cosmopolis, I'd got with the latter of the two. But that's just me.

 

[Project862006]

^from what i hear this one is the better movie

but this trailer is exactly what horror should be all about creepy,unnerving,makes you cover your eyes

not cheap thrills

 

[MOVIELORD101]

If that's your opinion, that's fine. Me on the other hand? This video is an exact depiction of my reaction to the last part of that beast of a trailer (just swap out the clips from Junior for the last bits of that trailer and it's a dead match):

[YT]n-8MFK6JGSA[/YT]