Take off the mask and let eerie 'Infinity Pool' kinda collapse
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It remains fantastic that we actually know the answer to the hypothetical consideration, “I wonder what kind of movies you’d make if you grew up with David Cronenberg as a dad.” Certainly life is unpredictable and maybe Brandon Cronenberg, son of the director of “The Fly,” “Crash,” “A History of Violence” and many more, might have grown up to helm lousy Netflix rom-coms starring Rachael Leigh Cook. But it makes just a bit more sense that the son of a legend has instead delivered work like “Antiviral,” “Possessor” and, now, “Infinity Pool,” continuing a consideration of body horror and bizarre manipulations of what we believe eXistenZ — sorry, existence — can be.
Again, though, the younger Cronenberg dazzles visually and teases ideas only to come up a little short in terms of delivery.
Vacationing at a gorgeous resort in the fictional developing nation of Li Tolqa, James (Alexander Skarsgard) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman) find themselves swerving around “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and crashing into Eli Roth’s mashup of “The One I Love” and a Tool video following a terrible car accident and a strange and very mandatory local custom. Already at odds due to Em’s family money and James’ inability to write a second novel (a plot point that was stale about 20 movies ago), the couple isn’t exactly doing better after their differing reactions to their new, bizarre circumstances that are better off experienced for yourself.
Cronenberg absolutely deserves credit for the visual richness of “Infinity Pool,” creating a descent that can also be, at times, oddly enticing. Playing with notions of imposter syndrome as well as temptation and exploitation, the film is not without its promising ideas. But if they come together into anything beyond a wag of the finger toward unenlightened tourists and privileged creatives, I missed it. (There’s enough to suggest a point about embracing limitations and the danger of pursuing endless possibility but not enough to actually make the point.) What begins as an intriguing dynamic with a supposed fan (Mia Goth of “Pearl,” more compelling than Skarsgard here) spreads out into torment that spins the head but ultimately doesn’t stimulate it. This isn’t quite a case of style over substance, just a clearer handle on the look than the story it’s serving.
James and Em are also the names of the main characters in “Adventureland,” an extremely different story about people trying to figure out a place they’re not sure if they should like. Let’s not pretend these movies are similar, though. Though a step or two past “Dual,” “Infinity Pool” isn’t really the kind of ride you get on twice, or feel great about by the end of the first go.
C+
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