‘Infinity Pool,’ which is the new film from writer/director Brandon Cronenberg (‘Antivirus’), the son of legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg (‘The Fly’), opens in theaters on January 27th.
The new erotic-horror-thriller stars Alexander Skarsgård (‘The Northman’) as James Foster, a troubled author enjoying a vacation at a tropical resort with his estranged wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman). Eventually they meet the mysterious Gabi (‘Pearl’s Mia Goth), and her husband Alban (‘Tell No One’s Jalil Lespert), who invite them on a day trip to a private beach outside the resort, which is forbidden by the local government for guests to visit.
After an unfortunate accident leaves James facing a zero tolerance policy for his crime, he discovers an expensive loophole that allows foreign criminals to live as long as they are first cloned, and then witness their own clone’s execution. This leads James to question his own mortality, as well as his marriage, as he experiences violence, hedonism and untold horror with Gabi, Alban, and their wealthy friends.
The result is a truly crazy movie experience that explores themes of mortality and sexuality, while grounding it in the horror genre. Cronenberg’s direction is impressive, but the screenplay falls apart in the third act, and while Alexander Skarsgård gives a strong performance, it is Mia Goth that truly shines and steals the film.
It’s very hard to know exactly what type of movie ‘Infinity Pool’ is going to be from the first 20 minutes. It starts off very “normal,” never hinting at the sci-fi or horror elements yet to come. In the beginning, it almost seems like a noir film, or that it will turn out to be about an affair, and ultimately a ‘Fatal Attraction’ type thriller. But once the idea of cloning is introduced as an actual thing, you realize that all bets are off as the movie gets stranger and stranger (in a good way) and ultimately is more like an updated ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’
I should have known that the film would go in that direction, and while Brandon Cronenberg introduces elements and themes similar to his father’s movies, the two directors are quite different. I was very impressed with Brandon Cronenberg’s direction, and the unique camera angles and composition of shots that he and his cinematographer, Karim Hussain, crafted. In fact, the film opens on an eerie shot of the resort’s pool and then quickly inverts the landscape. The filmmaker uses this technique throughout the film and it adds to the mood and tone of the movie.
Cronenberg uses other interesting camera and editing techniques during the party scenes where the characters are using hallucinating drugs. Along with the actors performances, this technique really relates the feeling of being under the influence of these drugs and the out-of-control state of mind of the characters for the audience.
In addition to being an erotic thriller and eventually dipping its toes in both the sci-fi and horror genres, the movie also addresses the themes of class and privilege. Other than the film’s more salacious or outrageous moments, this is where the movie’s message works best, when James begins to examine his own privilege and that of the wealthy people he is associating with.
But the film also deals with the idea of, who are we? As its never quite clear if the real James still exists, or if the James we meet at the beginning of the movie was secretly replaced with his own clone each time the “clone” was supposedly killed. Cronenberg navigates this well, never truly giving us an answer, but leaving the clues for the audience to decide themselves. The movie also explores the question of mortality, and what it does to James to repeatedly watch “himself” die.
Cleopatra Coleman is fine in her role as Em, but is not given much to do other than warn and then watch James on his downward spiral. French actor Jalil Lespert is very entertaining as Gabi’s husband, who is an outgoing and funny character. Rounding out the supporting cast is German actor Thomas Kretschmann (‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’) as Detective Thresh, the policeman that arrests James and offers him the cloning deal. The actor completely sells the cloning concept, even though it takes a certain amount of suspended disbelief from the audience to accept in the movie which is otherwise grounded in reality.
Alexander Skarsgård, who is coming off an absolutely excellent performance in last year’s ‘The Northman,’ gives another strong performance in ‘Infinity Pool,’ and helps anchor the film’s believability. The actor, who often plays heroic or “cool” characters marvelously transformed himself into a much meeker man, someone that could easily fall into Gabi’s mental traps. James is having a breakdown, not only in his marriage, but also in his own understanding of who he is as a human being, and it’s fun watching Skarsgård portray that in the movie.
But its Mia Goth’s performance as Gabi, that really shines and makes the film worth watching. The actress made a real name for herself last year starring in both of director Ti West’s horror movies ‘X’ and ‘Pearl.’ Again here, Goth gives another performance as a troubled and mysterious woman in what could be considered a horror movie, but her role is so much more complex than that.
She must beguile both James and the audience from her first scene, convincing us to trust her innocent character. Goth’s pleasant demeanor and kind attitude is more than enough to mask her character’s true intentions and the massive threat that she presents. Goth gives a sweet and innocent performance at first, but can more than handle the sudden flip in her character, once Gabi’s true intentions are revealed and she “goes nuclear.”
In the end, ‘Infinity Pool’ is an interesting and thought-provoking film that works on several different levels, but never really pulls it all together. Brandon Cronenberg is an impressive director to keep an eye on, and Alexander Skarsgård gives a performance unlike anything we’ve seen from him before, but it is Mia Goth who makes the movie truly worth watching.
‘Infinity Pool’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.
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