'Crimes of the Future' film review: Hopeless, dystopian flick is rich in gore & ideas, thin on substance

David Cronenberg returns to the body horror sci-fi genre with the pessimistic and stomach-churning flick 'Crimes of the Future' (in theaters June 3).

In short: In a pollution ravaged future, performance artists Saul Tenser and Caprice (Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux) become famous for their public surgeries - when a father (Scott Speedman) asks them to perform a public autopsy on his murdered young son. Kristen Stewart also stars.

Set aside the very graphic and visceral content for one moment - the film opens with an unthinkable murder. The type of crime that rarely occurs in films and almost never features on-screen, especially as the film's opener. While the act itself is unquestionably objectionable to most, opening a film with such a shocking act can absolutely work for a film - for example, 'The Witch.' The opening of 'The Witch' establishes the story's threat and the stakes involved. On the contrary, 'Crimes' opens with a terrible crime - and a child's corpse is merely a prop for the rest of the film.

'Crimes' attempts to balance its dark vision of a very broken future society alongside an oddly paced plot about the fate of humanity as a species. Despite the film's very vivid depictions of surgery and gore, Cronenberg's film radiates an intense anxiety about the future of a distant, aloof humanity seeking extreme sources of entertainment while existing in a world decaying in real time.

First and foremost, 'Crimes' is absolutely not for the squeamish. The film posits a lurid society where open surgery is a form of sensual entertainment. Saul Tenser and Caprice have cultivated a devoted base of fans who eagerly await his "next performance" - wherein Caprice removes entire organs from Saul - while surrounded by a room of enthralled and aroused fans. Caprice controls advanced medical technology (apparently designed by H.R. Giger) that allows her to surgically open up Saul's body, depicted in scenes that do not skimp on the viscera. And in Cronenberg's vision for the future, this is performance art of the future.

The problem with 'Crimes' is how disinterested it is in the audience and how self-satisfied it is with its own themes and annoying vague plot. After its jarring opening sequence, 'Crimes' becomes less interested in that murder and totally focused on immersing the audience in Cronenberg's unceasingly glum world of tomorrow. The film hints at an underlying anxiety about the proliferation of microplastics and how humanity's creeping physical numbness to pain affects humanity affects humanity as a culture.

'Crimes' is rife with intriguing notions about the side effects of a deteriorating ecosystem's effects on humans on biological and sociological levels ... but the film simply doesn't care whether the audience loses attention or falls asleep. This is a film that just barely more than an hour an a half, yet also feels like it is 10 hours long. 'Crimes' simply gets obsessed with its world building and conjecturing about humanity dark future - and forgets to tell a compelling story or crafting characters the audience can emotionally invest into. The film is barely 100 minutes long (without credits), and just strings the audience along, hoping to keep the viewers attention despite making almost no effort to remind that audience that a paper-thin plot sort of pulls everything together. And it's only in the final 15-20 minutes were the "plot" finally starts to gel - before just evaporating into nothing.

'Crimes' is a bleak statement about the future, with some clinical gore as a garnish, masquerading as a narrative film. It’s simply not enough to tease the audience with provocative commentary about where humanity is headed - but explore almost none of these ideas to any depth. Oh, and it’s impossible to pique the interest of audience members if they happen to nod off (which is totally understandable given the film’s glacial pacing).

Final verdict: 'Crimes of the Future' is a film seemingly targeted specifically to Cronenberg fans - leaving anyone who doesn't love the filmmaker's bleak moodiness.

Score: 2/5

'Crimes of the Future' opens in theaters nationwide on June 3. This sci-fi mystery is rated R for strong disturbing violent content and grisly images, graphic nudity and some language and has a runtime of 107 minutes.