Available from Severin on 03/25/2025
In a near future, celebrity culture has evolved to the point where fans can buy diseases from their favorite celebrities. While attempting to make the most of the possibilities at hand, an employee of the disease selling corporation gets more involved than he expected.
Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, for whom this was a first feature film, Antiviral shows tremendous potential and was ripe for a re-release due to its quality, where Cronenberg is and is going career-wise, and the subjects at hand somehow feeling even more on point now and like they are from an even less distant future. Cronenberg takes a cold medical science fiction story, makes it feel a bit more real, and then puts it onto the screen in a universe of its own while still connecting it deeply with current world issues and fascination (current both in 2012 and now) to create a truly fascinating and entertaining scifi horror film that is more body horror than nerdy science. Some things here connect just right and make the story chilling and how it’s brought to the screen masterful beyond the experience level of its writer and director.
The cast here sells the film and its story perfectly right, giving them emotions but also a sort of coldness that fits the story and the side of celebrity culture that is disconnected from the general public. There is a ton for the cast to work with here and the one with the most to do and communicate is Caleb Landry Jones who gives a more than solid performance that plays with his character’s work mixed in with what the character wants or doesn’t know he is looking for. His work here sells the film entirely and gives it humanity while keeping a bit of mystery for good measure. Joining him Sarah Gordon as Hanna Geist, the most sough-after celebrity, Malcol McDowell as Dr. Abendroth, Lisa Berry, Douglas Smith, and a few others, all giving strong performances to make it the strongest ensemble cast that they could.
Visually, the film is cold and stoic-feeling, the almost all white decor in many scenes, paired with the pared down wardrobe choices often all in black, creates a cold and uninviting future where perhaps buying a celebrity disease might just be the one thing to add spark to one’s life. The look of the film, from costume to props to decor is one point and clearly carefully planned. The cinematography works with these in a calculated way that created images that makes the viewer feel the cold, uncaring world on the screen. The work from director of photography Karim Hussain shows talent and knowledge as well as a care for the work brought to the screen. The editing by Matthew Hannam and the score by E.C Woodley work perfectly with the images created to make a completely cohesive look and sound for the story.
Antiviral is one of those first feature film that awes and fascinates, showing talent and willingness to make uncomfortable films that have since served Brandon Cronenberg quite well. His take on body horror only helps the comparisons to his father and, in his case, the comparison works out in his favor. The apple may not have fallen far from the tree, but this apple is one that is filled with just the right worms.
This new release of Antiviral from Severin was reviewed on Blu-ray disc which has a solid visual presentation and sound quality which is as expected from this label. The extras on the disc are plentiful with the best of the bunch being the short film Broken Tulips by Brandon Cronenberg, a making of featurette, deleted scenes with optional commentary on them, a special effects feature, and the icing on the cinematic cake an interview with both Brandon Cronenberg and Karim Hussain. This release is a well-rounded one with plenty of extra all of the highest quality.
