Antiviral (2012)

Honestly, don't bother unless you enjoy constantly seeing shots of needles inserted, blood, and sickly looking people. That is all the movie will deliver; the only emotional response it will invoke is disdain. No matter how interesting the concept may seem, this movie doesn't do it justice.

Things going for it: A novel concept. A few artistic scenes

On the other hand, it fails to fully exploit the concept, and the aforementioned scenes seem randomly inserted into the film with no real connection to the plot. With no background history provided, it is impossible to understand the world view of the characters, and thus impossible to form an emotional connection/emphasize with them. The sickly and gross scenes make you feel ill, but without any titillation, they literally just make you feel yuck. On top of it all, the movie often feels slow, and you wonder why you are watching it. How that can possibly happen with such a novel concept I don't know.

Really, I can't recommend it. It doesn't do the concept justice. It doesn't do cinema justice. It is a struggle to keep watching it - reading the Wikipedia entry is more rewarding; writing this review was more enjoyable.

The director obviously has a creative mind, and some technical ability, but he has utterly failed to combine them in production.

Just. Don't. Bother.

Fmovies: Is Cronenberg finally back to the body-horror genre? Yep, in a re-birth through his son, Brandon. What David hasn't done in the last 10 years is done here by Brandon. Dad's influence is obvious from the very first shot up to the last shot of the film. I found connections, clues, winks and homages to David's old films throughout the entire movie - I'm not sure whether they were intentional or just my intuition, but I recalled Videodrome, Shivers, The Fly, eXistenZ, Naked Lunch and Crash. If you were missing the old Cronenberg style, you're gonna love this movie.

The script is very original and contains some interesting ideas. The lead actor does a pretty decent job in his role; I wouldn't go as far as saying it's Oscar material, but it's good enough for this part. The production design is pretty good and interesting, although minimalist. So is the cinematography, which is "minimalist" in the sense of being static (or close to that) almost the entire film, with very few exceptions here and there; I guess it worked okay for the film, yet it was enough for me to be distracted by it more than once - I myself would have preferred to see a more dynamic camera-work.

The movie is not perfect. It gave me the feeling of "something is missing here" at times - including in its ending - but all in all it was pretty impressive as a first feature-film for Brandon, both as a writer and a director (although if I compare it to Duncan Jones' Moon, the latter wins big time). I'll definitely look forward to his next film - much more than to David's next film, sadly.

Set in a future were societies love for celebrity has become all consuming (quite literally in some cases). Antiviral follows the story of Syd March an employee at a clinic that sells celebrity viruses to the masses of fans desperate to feel closer to their idols.

Brandon Cronenberg takes a stab at the body horror genre his father helped make famous. Full of brilliant ideas and striking imagery Antiviral is an impressive first feature length debut. From the Clean white surfaces of the clinics to the Dingy underground black market it feels like a living and breathing world. The characters who inhabit this world all feel believable each with their own hidden agenda. The visual effects are impressively gruesome, With one nightmarish dream sequence lingering on long after the movie ends.

The one point where Antiviral falls short for me is pace, each time the story picks up steam it seems to falter. A little fat could have been trimmed, Instead of adding more and more ideas into the mix the movie could have done with honing the ones already there and using those to propel the story forward.

I did enjoy the film and I very much look forward to the directors next work.

Antiviral fmovies. Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) works for Lucas Clinic which buys viruses from celebrities to be injected into obsessed fans who are willing to pay. They have exclusive rights to celebrity Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon) which is very popular. Then he harvests and injects the Geist sample into himself. Others like celebrity butcher Arvid replicates celebrity cells and sells them as meat. Hannah Geist dies and Syd starts to get sicker.

This is a great idea for an original indie. The script needs a few more passes to elevate the tension and add some thrills. The idea seems to be all there is in this movie. It's not particularly exciting. It also needs a section at the beginning to do an exposition on what the products are about, the science behind it and the legal ramifications. Brandon Cronenberg should have made a fake TV ad for the product. It's also probably important to bring in the law early to explain the legal world these products exist in. I love the machine that he gets hooked up to. It's definitely has the Cronenberg style. However the movie lacks any energy. It's creepy but not much more than that. I like the weird creepiness. I'm just waiting for Brandon to take it to the next level.

Brandon, the son of David Cronenberg, brings to the screen a story that contains no alien monsters, no supernatural forces, no serial killers. Instead, the actor is ourselves, the people, while he subtly manipulates the scene to expose the "viral" sickness of the world. Beautifully done, a little slow paced, but worth it.

The main character is a guy (Banshee from X-Men, now even creepier - he made a great role) who works as a technician in a company that buys and sells celebrity diseases. Say Beyonce has a rash, she sells it to these people who then sell it back to you, so you can have the same rash as she had. It gets even more complicated, with people trying to steal this biological material, while some are trying to copy-protect it and/or patent/copyright stuff. There is a black market for steaks cloned from the genetic material of your favourite celebrity.

The idea is great and they could have stopped here, with a boring movie about an interesting idea, but they did not. The movie is beautifully done, visually stunning, with an eerie soundtrack, good acting and a good script. Who does that anymore?

Bottom line: the world is insane and going more so. The film exposes it in a fresh and intelligent way. It is a great film that fringes on horror (by showing people real horror, not something made up), but is basically a very good sci-fi movie. I recommend it to all.

Syd March works for a cosmetic company that sells you a way to share the viruses and diseases your favourite celebrities have. It's a very intimate experience knowing you have been infected with herpes by the same blood of your celebrity crush. Syd is also involved in dealing with the black market over these samples of viruses and finds himself in over his head when his celebrity crush dies.

This is not a comedy. This is a gritty, blood-gushing, stomach-churning, grotesque sci-fi thriller from Brandon Cronenberg. However exciting that above sentence may have sounded, Antiviral is a slower-paced horror art piece. It is hard on the eyes and stomach, as such a story should be.

This is the film all of the original David Cronenberg fans have been waiting for. It's come a decade too late and not through him but through his son. Unlike Sofia Coppola or Jennifer Lynch, Brandon Cronenberg doesn't seem to be trying to find his own voice. With this film, he seems content filling the shoes his father had left unfilled over the last decade, making more audience-friendly dramatic thrillers. Antiviral very much could be a lost 2003 film David Cronenberg shot right after Spider. Like father like son.