Art is not therapy, and there’s no catharsis. — David Cronenberg
It begins as a dream. A moth, incorporating its own light source, hovers over a form. A director—a hybrid “I” in a hall of mirrors—considering a body of work. A shroud—a curtain that descends and enfolds—is embedded with cameras. Once his beloved is wrapped and buried, the device’s creator can observe the stages of decomposition. But it’s only a temporary fix—how many years does it take for a body to decay?—or no fix at all.
After the death in 2017 of his wife of forty-three years, David Cronenberg was open to retirement. Instead, working through an extended period of grief, he has given us two companion pieces—Crimes of the Future (2022) and The Shrouds (2024)—aligned in somber mood and surreality. In the latter, Gravetech founder and inventor Karsh (Vincent Cassel) operates a cemetery (and adjoining restaurant) called “The Shrouds,” where each tombstone is fitted with a monitor displaying the corporal contents underneath. At a graveside “viewing” of his recently deceased wife, Karsh tells a guest: “I’m in the grave with her.”
Dry, macabre humor is a signature feature in any Cronenberg film, and in The Shrouds, no one is allowed to rest in peace for long. Karsh observes small, non-organic nodes on his wife’s corpse. Shortly thereafter, the graves are desecrated: tombstones toppled and visual portals disabled. Ask a reasonable question (“why would a cemetery become a focal point for a surveillance hack?”), and you’ve got the basis for this engaging techno-thriller. Playing three roles—the late wife, the wife’s sister (who refers to Karsh as a “corpse voyeur”), and the voice of Karsh’s animated avatar Hunny—Diane Kruger doubles and doubles again, recently explaining to an interviewer, “when you lose someone you love so much, I think you see them everywhere. You cannot unsee them.” Or maybe the trickster semiotician in Cronenberg can’t resist playing with signs and their referents. (As has been noted by many of the film’s commentators, Cassel-as-Karsh sports Cronenberg’s distinctive haircut.)
Its narrative expanding globally, examining what Karsh refers to as a toxic mix of “technology, religion, money, and politics,” The Shrouds finds Cronenberg in fine conspiratorial form—an intriguing acknowledgement that in art (not therapy), a conspiracy debunker can also be its greatest enabler.
The Shrouds is now playing. See info and links below for screening details.
THE SHROUDS
Written and directed by David Cronenberg
Now playing
AMC The Grove
189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles
Opens April 25
Laemmle Monica Film Center
1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica
Laemmle NoHo 7
5240 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood
David Cronenberg quote: Isaac Feldberg, “There’s No Catharsis,” Roger Ebert, April 2025.
rogerebert.com/david-cronenberg-interview
Diane Kruger quote: Alex Nino Gheciu, “David Cronenberg Channels His Own Grief…,” Canadian Press, April 18, 2025.
ca.news.yahoo.com/david-cronenberg-channels
David Cronenberg, The Shrouds (2024), from top: Hunny avatar and techno-shroud; Vincent Cassel (left) and Guy Pearce; Diane Kruger and Cassel; The Shrouds U.S. poster; Sandrine Holt and Cassel.
Images courtesy and © the artists, Sideshow, and Janus Films.
