Antiviral

Brandon Cronenberg’s (yes, son of that Cronenberg) first feature film Antiviral is set in a dystopian near future in which obsession with celebrity has reached such neurotic levels that fans eat specialty steaks and burgers created with cultured cell-lines from celebs’ bodies—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg…

Caleb Landry Jones, real-life vocalist and drummer for psychedelic rock band Robert Jones, plays Syd, a pale and haunted young man employed by a corporation which markets celebrity viruses. His employer has an exclusive licensing arrangement with the world’s biggest female megastar, Hannah Geist, played by Sarah Gadon (Cronenberg the elder’s A Dangerous Method). Against a backdrop of unhealthy VIP mania—trashy magazines and non-stop TV coverage serve as wallpaper—Syd and his cohorts at the Lucas Clinic work to exploit the desire of the most rabid fans to get closer to their idols. They extract strains of live viruses from the famous and inject them into paying customers as the ultimate form of communion: "With samples drawn directly from the source, you can be connected in ways you never imagined," says the slick commercial pitchman. Jones gives a remarkably physical performance hauling round his freckled wreck of a body, and Gadon shines as a succubus. Malcolm McDowell (If…., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange), appears as the superstar’s personal physician, layering hypocrisy on the Hippocratic Oath.