David Cronenberg is unraveling his understanding of the afterlife with “The Shrouds.”
The auteur writes and directs the sci-fi feature that centers on a widower named Karsh (Vincent Cassel) grieving the loss of his wife (Diane Kruger). An inventor, Karsh creates a program called GraveTech to allow for mourners to monitor their late loved ones via shrouds. Yet when multiple graves, including that of Karsh’s wife, are desecrated, he has to find the perpetrators.
Guy Pearce and Sandrine Holt also star.
“The Shrouds” will debut in competition at Cannes. SBS Intl. is handling world sales for the film, with SBS, Prospero Pictures, and Saint Laurent Productions producing. The producers are Saïd Ben Saïd, Martin Katz, and Anthony Vaccarello.
Cronenberg told Variety that he wrote the film while “experiencing the grief of the loss of my wife, who died seven years ago. It was an exploration for me because it was not just a technical exercise, it was an emotional exercise.”
Cronenberg called death “another form of relationship” and cited how Cassel’s character Karsh explores a “perverse, morbid, grotesque” way of grieving by watching his late wife’s body wither away in the grave.
“Basically, it all comes down to the body, as in many of my films,” Cronenberg said. “‘Body is reality,’ and if you accept that, the body of a dead person continues to be a kind of reality, and that is where Karsh lives. It’s so interesting because I’m often watching movies in order to see dead people. I want to see them again, I want to hear them. And so cinema is in a way a kind of shrouded post-death machine, you know. In a way cinema is a cemetery.”
“The Shrouds” was originally conceived as a series at Netflix, with Léa Seydoux set for the role now played by Kruger.
Seydoux told IndieWire that while she “loved working with David,” she needed an acting “break” and parted ways with the project. Also, this: “Maybe I thought two French actors speaking English, it’s weird,” she said. “I’m sure with Diane, it will be great.”
“The Shrouds” premieres at Cannes with SBS Intl. is handling world sales. Check out the teaser below.
