David Cronenberg’s early works introduced the world to what are now called body horror films. With his exploration of the subject, he has become a master in many ways. While Cronenberg’s most recent films haven’t exactly hit the mark for me, his son Brandon Cronenberg is more than capable of carrying the torch.
My introduction to Brandon Cronenberg as a filmmaker came with his sophomore film, Possessor (2020), which I thought was fantastic. I followed that up with Infinity Pool (2023), another visually stunning and disturbing fever dream. Now, thanks to the all-new Special Edition 4 K Blu-ray from Severin Films, I had the opportunity to watch his debut feature, Antiviral (2012).
Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) is one of the top salespeople for The Lucas Clinic, a company that harvests exclusive infections from celebrities. Fans then purchase the infections to inject into themselves. Syd does some work on the side, injecting himself to get infections out of the building and extracting them at home to sell on the black market.
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The world’s biggest celebrity, Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon), contracts a mysterious illness, making it highly sought after. Syd is tasked with getting the sample. Knowing this could be a big payoff, he injects himself with it instead of turning it in. The infection isn’t what he was expecting, and soon, he finds himself fighting for his life. A whole network of people wants to profit from it at any cost.
For a debut feature, the final result is strong. Antiviral delves deep into society’s unending obsession with celebrity and takes it to unfathomable heights. The idea of being so obsessed with celebrities that you would want to have the same illness as them, given to you directly from their blood or cells, is wild.
There are several gross-out moments, but they are necessary to advance the story. The Cell Steaks actually really made me feel uneasy. The unfortunate part is that our society isn’t far off from this reality, which hits pretty hard.
The 4K transfer, supervised by Cronenberg and cinematographer Karim Hussain, shows the beauty of the film. The way the white backgrounds contrast with the body horror gives the film extra intensity. When 4K is at its best, it allows viewers to appreciate a movie differently. This one does just that.
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Severin Films loaded the discs with old and new features to give fans a well-rounded look at the film from inception to completion. You get a commentary track with Cronenberg and Hussain, Broken Tulips (a Brandon Cronenberg short), the ‘making of’ featurette, a discussion of the restoration, interviews, deleted scenes, interviews with Caleb Landry Jones and Sarah Gadon, and more.
The version I was sent to review was the standard 2-disc edition, but there’s also a limited 3-disc set that includes the Cannes Cut, which I would like to see as well. Having seen all three of Cronenberg’s features, I have to say he’s really making his mark, and I feel the best is yet to come.
Check out the trailer for Antiviral on YouTube.
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