**Warning: gruesome content**
A polarising new body horror from the mind of David Cronenberg proved too much to stomach for some grossed-out viewers.
I can just about handle Jaws – maybe Final Destination at an absolute push – so I can't imagine how I would react when faced with repulsive body mutations, weird organ growths and strangely sexual surgery scenes in Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future. I'd probably be reaching for a bucket.
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Set in a dystopian universe where the human species is adapting to an increasingly synthetic environment, the unsettling flick focuses on performance artist Saul Tenser who, alongside ex-trauma surgeon Seydoux, showcases the metamorphosis of his organs as he undergoes accelerated evolution.
Basically, he sells off tickets to punters who want to see his surgeries, which he presents as extravagant performance art pieces. Yep, really.
Starring the likes of Kristen Stewart, Léa Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen, the movie made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival this week.
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However, as you probably expected, it has well and truly divided viewers - prompting both walkouts and a six-minute standing ovation. You can't really get more polarised than that.
According to reports from people who attended the screening, some repulsed viewers only last five minutes before making a swift exit, while others decided enough was enough after one particular scene involving Seydoux and an open wound. Don't worry, I'm not sure I want to know either.
Cronenberg is no stranger to skin-crawling gore - he's the mind behind the likes of Crash, Videodrome and The Fly, after all.
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And, speaking ahead of the movie's premiere yesterday (23 May), he anticipated not everyone would be a fan. “There are some very strong scenes,” he said. “I mean, I’m sure that we will have walkouts within the first five minutes of the movie. I’m sure of that."
He continued: "Some people who have seen the film have said that they think the last 20 minutes will be very hard on people, and that there’ll be a lot of walkouts. Some guy said that he almost had a panic attack."
Other reports have suggested some viewers were left feeling rather impressed by what they had seen, though, with some apparently standing up and applauding the movie at the end.
However people felt about it, it's clear the film made a huge splash with critics and audiences alike.
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Crimes of the Future is slated for release on 2 June, 2022.
Topics: TV and Film
Chloe Rowland