David Cronenberg’s ‘The Shrouds’ Blurs Reality and Madness

David Cronenberg’s latest film, The Shrouds, is a complex, genre-bending exploration of grief, technology, and the human condition. The movie follows Karsh, a mogul who invented a high-tech shroud for the deceased, which allows users to watch their loved ones decay in real-time.

As Karsh navigates his bizarre invention’s dark consequences, he becomes embroiled in a web of conspiracy theories, including hacking incidents and mysterious nodules on his wife Becca’s skeleton. The film’s intricate plot is woven together by Cronenberg’s signature themes of the blurring of reality and technology.

Karsh’s chaotic stew of sorrow, horniness, fear, and paranoia drives the narrative forward, with Vincent Cassel delivering a clinical performance that belies Karsh’s exasperated confusion. Diane Kruger shines as Becca and Terry, Karsh’s sister-in-law, who becomes entangled in his life.

The Shrouds is a film that defies conventional coherence, instead embracing a free-floating dream logic that integrates the real and unreal, technological and biological elements. Cronenberg’s direction is marked by mordant humor and an icy chill, creating a cinematic experience that’s both frosty and energized.

Through its unique blend of plot twists, conspiratorial mystery, and existential themes, The Shrouds solidifies Cronenberg’s reputation as a master of complex, thought-provoking cinema.

Source: https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-shrouds-review-would-you-pay-to-watch-dead-loved-ones-decay