Synopsis: James and Em Foster are enjoying an all-inclusive beach vacation in the fictional island of La Tolqa, when a fatal accident exposes the resort’s perverse subculture of hedonistic tourism, reckless violence, and surreal horrors.
Editing: James Vandewater
Music: Tim Hecker
Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Mia Goth, Jalil Lespert, Cleopatra Coleman, Adam Boncz, Thomas Kretschmann, Amanda Brugel, Jeff Ricketts, John Ralston, Caroline Boulton
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Writer: Brandon Cronenberg
Cinematography: Karim Hussain
Like his father, Brandon Cronenberg makes films that aren’t afraid to push the envelope. His latest, Infinity Pool — finally getting an Australian cinema release — is the kind of film that makes audiences squirm, both at the excess of sex and violence on-screen and at the characters and themes themselves. More uncomfortable still is how the film holds up a mirror to the audience — and you may not like what you see.
James (Alexander Skarsgård) is on vacation with his wife, Em (Cleopatra Coleman), on an undisclosed island. Their blissful beach getaway is a faux reality. Barbed-wire fences keep the mostly white guests safely within the dream-like hotel grounds, while protestors periodically break in to fight back against the resort. An early scene shows a man on an ATV tearing up the beach before being chased off by security.
Seeking inspiration for his next novel, James might have found it when he meets Gabi (Mia Goth) and her partner, Alban (Jalil Lespert). Gabi introduces herself, professes her love for James’s first novel, and instantly wins his trust. When Alban and Gabi invite the couple to sneak out of the hotel grounds to another beach, they accept. They drink and leave their rubbish in the sand — like the millions that led to Maya Bay in Thailand being closed — enjoying the island’s beauty without a care in the world. But their drunken escapade crashes back to earth when James hits a local farmer on the drive back. They try to hide behind the hotel’s fences, but the police arrive for James in the morning.
Charged with murder, James’s privilege and wealth — thanks to his wife, Em — allow him to accept an offer from the authorities: he will be cloned and watch as another version of himself is executed in his place. Immediately, the film poses the question: “Do you ever wonder if they got the wrong man?” Rather than spiral into doppelgänger paranoia, however, Infinity Pool is more interested in the depths of excess people will sink to when presented with a get-out-of-jail-free card. Outside their home countries, and in a place where power and money can buy another life at any point, these characters shed what remains of their humanity and become animals.
Gabi pushes James into increasingly depraved, violent, and filthy acts as the film continues, and he’s at the beck and call of the woman who praised his book. Alban doesn’t seem to care as Gabi rests her hand on his thigh, and James has no qualms sneaking away from his wife the night after he’s released from the police station. While Em rightly panics over what’s happened, James, Gabi, Alban, and new friends are soon drinking again and using an indigenous drug in a ritual to get high.
Once Infinity Pool shows its doppelgänger hand, Mia Goth steals the show. Since Suspiria and last year’s X and Pearl (which she co-wrote), she’s been a rising horror star. Here she teeters on the edge of devouring every scene — but rides that line perfectly, a testament to both Goth and Cronenberg’s trust in her to go all-out.
Infinity Pool won’t be for everyone: its excess is extreme, and it’s a filthy, violent film. As in Possessor, Cronenberg again probes identity — but here he asks more direct questions of the audience. It’s a confrontational critique of capitalism and the unaccountability of those with money and power. Undeniably, it’s also one of the most exquisitely crafted nightmares you can subject yourself to this year.
Infinity Pool is in cinemas on May 11.
