TIFF 2024 Review: The Shrouds
The Shrouds (2024)
Directed by David Cronenberg
Starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, and Sandrine Holt
As seen at The Shroud’s North American Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). All images courtesy of TIFF.
I’m not sure why I keep going back to Cronenberg films. I haven’t been impressed since Eastern Promises (2007), and I hold no deep nostalgia for his earlier work. However, I am always intrigued by the concepts and ideas he brings to his stories. Just because they seldom sync with my fickle tastes doesn’t mean I should stop trying.
His last film, Crimes of the Future (2022), was one of my least favorite movies that year. You can read my review [here]. But being here at TIFF, in the city the Canadian icon calls home, I couldn’t help but root for The Shrouds to be a return to form—at least a form that functions for this critic.
The Shrouds stars Vincent Cassel as Karsh, a man grieving the death of his wife. This is definitely a “Karsh Toke”—as an entrepreneur, he channels his grief into a business venture. His company, GraveTech, allows people to view their loved ones’ decomposing corpses in 8K resolution. This premise naturally leads to an exploration of grief, but surprisingly not in just a depressive, morose way. The corporate and international intrigue surrounding the product, along with its personal origins, inject comedic elements into the story. As a viewer, I found myself muttering, “No way, are you fucking kidding me? That’s ridiculous.” But the characters themselves were saying the same thing. In an act of filmmaking awareness, Cronenberg lets his characters share their reactions to the absurdity of Karsh’s world with us.
Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce play characters affected by Karsh’s wife’s death, and as the conspiratorial intrigue that connects them ramps up, we see their bewilderment expressed with wry humor, not depressive existential ponderings. This is a revelation. Unlike Crimes of the Future and other recent offerings such as Cosmopolis (2012), which seemed to choose pretense over empathetic self-awareness, The Shrouds strikes a different tone.
Though GraveTech’s technology is essentially a MacGuffin, used to move the story along, it feels grounded in what could easily be a misbegotten venture from the likes of Musk, Bezos, or Zuckerberg. Combine this element with great acting and a humorous approach, and while Cronenberg hasn’t exactly returned to form, he’s created a new one. Perhaps after seeing his children’s latest films—son Brandon’s Infinity Pool (2023) and daughter Caitlin’s Humane (2024)—he feels compelled to start fresh and move forward, something Karsh in The Shrouds just can’t do.
Recommended.