Crimes of the Future

In the near future, acclaimed performance artist Saul Tenser publicly stages the evolution of his own body with the help of his partner Caprice, turning their shows into a bold form of theatrical science. The metamorphosis of his organs becomes both spectacle and statement, challenging what counts as art and who gets to decide. An investigator from the National Organ Registry fixes on their activities, pursuing each public act with cool persistence. As a shadowy faction silhouettes itself into the film’s orbit, the duo is drawn into a more dangerous game about humanity’s next stage. The mood blends clinical curiosity with grotesque imagery, creating a stylish, uneasy drama that refuses easy answers or clear moral certainties.

Directed by David Cronenberg, Crimes of the Future grows out of his own imaginative screenplay rather than an adaptation. The movie premiered in 2022 at major festivals and opened in theaters worldwide via Neon, led by Viggo Mortensen as Saul, with Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart among the principal cast.

Critics described the film as a return to Cronenberg's signature physical unease, a sleek meditation on evolution, identity, and the ethics of artistic transformation. The narrative threads themes of power and consent, body autonomy, and the uneasy space where science and art intersect. The tone is cold, precise, and occasionally brutal, inviting slow reflection as much as visceral shock.

Even for a 2022 release, the film generated memorable images and ideas that linger in conversations about transhumanism and body politics. The slash of surgical procedures and the idea that organs can become artistic material sparked debate about what bodies should look like and who controls that gaze.

Worldwide box office gross stood at about 4.6 million, a modest figure compared with the production budget of 27 million. The result signals a niche appeal for a film that leans toward cerebral horror and Cronenberg's late career signature visual rigor that lingers in the viewer's memory.