By Jacob Harrison

Monday, 29 July, Event Cinema Bondi Junction – Popcorn Taxi hosted a screening of ANTIVIRAL and live Q&A with Director Brandon Cronenberg (yes, son of THAT Cronenburg).

ANTIVIRAL is a film that is hard to place neatly into a box. Part sci-fi, part horror, with a healthy dose of satire ANTIVIRAL is a film about a possible future where the cult of celebrity is more of a ubiquitous epidemic than it is today. A future where the lust for knowledge and connection with the intimate private lives of celebrities has made some disturbing developments. Still, it wasn’t as disturbing as the media coverage of the royal baby.

ANTIVIRAL is Cronenburg’s first feature, and had the honour of being shown at Cannes. Although it received a warm reception, Cronenburg had one small gripe.

‘Nobody Laughed. It got zero laughs… and if no one laughs I assume they hate it, it’s supposed to be funny, but we got good applause after the end credits.’ croaked a sleepy Cronenburg, on the line from Toronto, still in his underwear. For him, it was 7AM and the lack of caffeine was palpable. The Aussie audience was more receptive to the subtle, dark humour.

Brandon Cronenburg

The film is visually and audibly stunning; it was a pleasure to experience it on the big screen in surround sound. ANTIVIRAL is basically a two-tone film – red and white; the stark, sterile whites of the set interlaced with the crimson of lipstick – or blood. You truly appreciate the ominous score of the film in the cinema. The score and original music is a mixture of different old-school synthesisers and acoustics by Cronenburg’s cousin E.C. Woodley. The sound underscores and enhances the films already ominous tone. There are a few great performances here from a troupe of talented actors, including Malcolm McDowell (Clockwork Orange), but Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class, No Country for Old Men) playing the lead role of Syd stood out. The film would not be the same without his brooding, icy screen presence – and man, can he take a beating. The pace feels a bit laggy at times, and eventually you do begin to tire of seeing poor Jones falling and writhing about, but all in all, a great flick. 8/10 if I had to put a number on it.

Malcolm Mcdowell & Caleb Landry Jones

The Cameo from Malcolm McDowell lead to some speculation on Cronenburg’s influences, but whether it be his cagey nature or the time in the morning, he was reluctant to give anything away, from influential films, directors or movements to what his next project might be. Although he admitted there are two or three projects he’s working on, he was reluctant to say much about them, but he did say he is likely to go down the sci-fi/thriller road again. After the distinctiveness of ANTIVIRAL, the next Cronenburg project will be one to look out for.

By the way, if you’re not a fan of needles, this may not be a film for you. Cronenburg explained that although they had a great art department, a lot of the needle shots were performed by a nurse on willing volunteers. ‘Most of it’s real, but there were some trick shots.’ Cronenburg sounded fairly sure it was all legal and above board.

I’ve just bought my ticket to the next Popcorn Taxi event, the screening of Upstream Color followed by a Q&A with Director Shane Carruth. I’m really looking forward to this. I decided I enjoyed Primer immensely once I had uncrossed my eyes and put my brain back together, and with mysterious allusions to Carruth watching Popcorn Taxi, how could I resist?