Crimes of the Future  ★★★

DAVID Cronenberg’s latest, Crimes of the Future, may be one of his least accessible films.

In a long and illustrious career the Canadian body horror specialist has always managed to juggle complex themes and intellectual arguments within a fairly straight-forward and exciting narrative.

But Crimes of the Future leans too much on the former and sacrifices too much audience engagement in the story as a result.

You find yourself wandering in and out of the main narrative and characters while you struggle to keep up with the concepts being presented and examined. The plot almost grinds to a halt on occasions while the characters debate the future of human existence.

This isn’t to say that the film is without interest; far from it. But the story it exists within doesn’t carry the same weight.

The location and future time period isn’t made clear but the natural environment appears to have collapsed in many ways.

Humans have been forced to adapt to a predominantly synthetic environment with the extreme result being some individuals’ bodies undergoing physical transformations and mutations, including growing new or additional internal organs.

One such person is Saul Tenser, played well by Viggo Mortensen, who has capitalised on his situation by staging artistic performances during which a surgeon cuts him open and removes an organ.

With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Tenser seems to be issuing warnings about both what the environment is doing to us and our lack of care or understanding, as demonstrated by attending his performances.

There are two other key characters.

Timlin (Kristen Stewart) is an investigator from the National Organ Registry, who becomes obsessed with Senser and the growing phenomenon known as Accelerated Evolution Syndrome.

Lang Dotrice (Scott Speedman) is also investigating following the murder of his young son at the hands of his ex-wife who was convinced the boy had been turned into a freak.

Some believe the syndrome has helped reduce pain amongst sufferers generally and is helping combat the spread of disease.

But others are convinced it is a portent of another future human disaster.

The story becomes a battle between these forces.

Perhaps I have made the film sound better and more coherent than it actually is. I definitely struggled to understand it fully and need a second watch.

Performances are strong across the board and the set design, make-up and effects are of a high quality, as you would expect.

Cronenberg’s return to the science fiction and horror genres for the first time in 23 years is fascinating and infuriating in almost equal measure.

Definitely needs a second watch.