David Cronenberg odyssey, which has been tracking along his obsession with William Burroughs, has been completed. I am not really here to say whether that is for good or ill, more I would say that with his son Brandon in the rear view mirror, it is definitely a circular process. CRIMES OF THE FUTURE may share the title of another of his films but it is not related. What it is, as one of Cronenberg’s characters states is, ‘the body is political and I do not like what we are doing to it..’

In a near future state, where machinery is decaying and that decay is dripping into the self,  a performance artist couple are reaching the edge. They push the boundaries of taste and decency with a daring series of shows. These see mutilation, eroticism and organ mutation mix. Tantalite and titillate those watching, while also making them uncomfortable. This might seem just another step in the powers of art to sheer away decency but there is worse. A shadowy government agency has been hunting a terrorist group who see this work as the next step in the evolution of humanity. They want to push the boundary further, harder and with more vigour. For the next evolution in the human experience is about to be found.

There is a lot to take in from any Cronenberg film. A reviewer better than I, suggested that his films ask first for us to look. Then think and finally feel. I wont go that far. More I will say this is a dampened interpretation of the challenging, probing works of Cronenberg. Films that asked of us everything and left us enthralled. Were we victims of technology. Were are bodies the last refuge of self. Had thoughts and feelings become polluted with interference from technology and biology? Well the extras here digest some of these themes in myriad ways. Caelum Vatnsdal commentary is spritely but seems to deflate on the later scenes as the film spirals. I felt that maybe the reason is that material is running low but also maybe the viewer need focus. Deciphering the madness is hard. The talking heads are a little confused. They seem rich in thought but also lack something in the transference. That is I took them as bland and sterile but that might be me after 2 plus hours I switched off. The best and most revelatory work here is a video essay by Leigh Singer. Singer unspools not only CRIMES OF THE FUTURE but Cronenberg aesthetic in a really inspiring way.

To the transfer. We saw the BLU RAY and not the UHD. The Blu Ray was perfectly nice. Good depth of field. No blackness lost in night scenes, Some decay of colour in the Mediterranean sea and space. All good though.

Special Features 

• Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs
• UHD presented in Dolby Vision HDR
• New audio commentary by Caelum Vatnsdal
• Undeniably a Love Story: an interview with Director David Cronenberg
• Things Change: an interview with Actor Viggo Mortensen
• The Chaos Inside: an interview with Actor Léa Seydoux
• The Heat and the Grime: an interview with Actor Kristen Stewart
• The Bureau Man: a new interview with Actor Don McKellar
• Painkiller: a new interview with Producer Robert Lantos
• The Most Wonderful Dream: a new interview with Cinematographer Douglas Koch
• The Code of David: a new interview with Editor Christopher Donaldson
• New Flesh, Future Crimes: The Body and David Cronenberg – a video essay by Leigh Singer
• The Making of Crimes of the Future
• Production Design Materials
• Short film: The Death of David Cronenberg

Limited Edition Contents

• Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Marko Manev
• 120 page  book with new essays by ​​Reyna Cervantes, Tim Coleman, Joel Harley, Rich Johnson, Mikel J Koven, Phil Nobile Jr, Ian Schultz and Hannah Strong
• 6 collectors’ art cards