Antiviral [Blu-ray]

This movie was amazing! I didn't know what to expect when I was going into it, but it was wild (in a good way)! I highly recommend it! Very creative!

It must be a double edged sword to be the child of one of the worlds most prolific and unique film makers. For this reason alone I have to say I'm incredibly impressed with the first shot out of the gate by Brandon Cronenberg.Antiviral is a stark, compelling film with a great look and meticulous production value. The clinical white sets are a perfect canvass to the dark and genuinely creepy face of disease and deterioration of human flesh. It's here, you'll be reminded of David Cronenbergs early work i.e.: Videodrome, Scanners, The Brood and so on. The concept of an obsession with flesh as a metaphor for social and human issues is brilliant - and it's to this regard Brandon Cronenberg shows us the apple really does fall close to the tree.The pace unfortunately, is slow and the film drags. However the lead character Syd played by Caleb Landry Jones is a riveting, fearless performance. His deterioration is paced slow and so very methodically it's truly hard to watch yet impossible to turn away.The theme of obsessive fans isn't new. We've all seen both versions of "The Fan" "Misery" and so on. But Antiviral takes this obsession with fame to a new, maniacal level and despite it's problems it certainly does it well - and that's good movie making.I remember a blog entry by that late and never to be replaced Roger Ebert. His perspective on Americas obsession with fame was interesting. To paraphrase, his observation was that in countries ruled by royalty movie star and model obsession is nil to none. Yet in America Hollywood has become our true royalty and the obbsession with Fame and unbound adulation for those who are famous can be seen virtually everywhere.Ebert made an insightful point, if you followed his blog it's still live and worth the read.As for Antiviral I would have loved to know his take on it. To me it's a visceral, calculated expression of the need of obsessed fans to touch the face of fame at any price, inclding their own health and well being. In this case via being injected with dangerous viruses and pathogens from famous people who are sick.They sell their blood and the market is huge. Antiviral isn't a horror film or science fiction for that matter. You won't jump out of your seat or be frightened. If you have a fear of needles you'll cringe from time to time. Performances are stellar all around and there's a great cameo by the incomparable Malcolm McDowell which is almost worth the price of admission alone.Antiviral may have a an unfortunate slow pace however it's creepy enough to make you think. Far from perfect but the film does have a few moments of brilliance - as flawed as it may be Antiviral is well worth seeing.

So the first thing you think when you see this movie on Amazon is "oh, it's directed by someone named Brandon Cronenberg! I'll bet that's David Cronenberg's son!" Yes, it is. So does that mean that this movie represents...what? The genuine Cronenberg madness passed on to another generation? David C has gone from being an outsider to being a celebrated auteur without having to abandon his predilections for themes of infection or deformity, mental, physical, genetic, bridging a gap between ordinary reality and something morbidly transcendent?What we have is a brilliant mind mirror that lets itself rapidly into wonderful synecdoche. It is a story that takes place in a world where the public is obsessed with infecting themselves with the same viruses contracted by their favorite glamor celebrities. Especially Hannah Geist (Geist in German meaning spirit, soul, or ghost, meaning both spooky ghost and "ghost" as in "holy ghost.") who is struck down by a virus. The public thinks she has been killed, but Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) has been infected by the same virus she has. He soon finds himself imprisoned in a room with a huge picture of Geist's face on each wall and a camera in the corner filming him from above. The public, you see, suffers from a "narrative gap" regarding Geist's death. What did she feel in the last moments? How did she suffer? By watching Syd perish, they can "be there" for Geist's last moments. And if Geist can find a way to market the experience to the masses...he just might be able to secure a cure.Simply brilliant. Nothing short.

Director Brandon Cronenberg’s first film shows great promise in conceptualization and filmmaking, but fails to deliver in terms of story development. A decent movie I guess, but it definitely disappointed my expectations of suspense and horror.The Lucas Clinic for the True Connoisseurs has the blaring bright whiteness of scenes from American Psycho (2000) or the Resident Evil sequels’ (2002-2016) laboratories or even Sci-Fi settings like Solaris (1972, 2002). The unrealistically clean and bright décor cultivates a sense of complete artificiality.New client Edward (Douglas Smith; Ouija, The Bye Bye Man) is an obsessive fan of celebrity Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon; Dream House, Maps to the Stars). During Edward’s consultation with Lucas technician Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones; The Last Exorcism, Byzantium, Get Out), Syd preys on this fixation, eliciting strong emotional and infatuated responses as if deliberately psychologically intoxicating his client as foreplay… before the penetration of the syringe encapsulating a virus. Not just any virus, but the precise extracted strain of Herpes carried by the actress. And why? So that Edward could feel as if he contracted it from her, from her kiss, and feel more connected to her.As the Lucas company profits selling celebrity viruses to their fanfare, Syd has found a way to beat the company’s security for his own interests. Only… when something goes wrong with his health, Syd faces a unique medical mystery that baffles his colleagues (Malcolm McDowell; ; Halloween I-II, 31) and co-conspirators (Joe Pingue; Maps to the Stars, Dream House) alike.Director and writer Brandon Cronenberg’s (Possessor) first feature film is not without its merits, but it fell far short of my expectations. Where is the body horror? This story begins rather provocatively, but middles and ends into less interesting tedium with little development. What is intended as thrilling mystery ultimately falls rather flat for me, unfortunately. And whereas this film was never anything near riveting, transformative or wowing, it remains a shame that after such a titillating start it would reduce to this. It began with so much conceptual promise.

Dvd en parfait état ; livraison rapide.

attention, c'est un film du fils cronenberg, pas de david. On parle ici de la folie du star system ou plutot des fans qui sont pret à tout pour se rapprocher de leur idole. Meme se faire injecter des virus de célébrités qui sont aussi convoités par la mafia. Mais il vend aussi ces échantillons, pour son propre compte, à de puissantes organisations criminelles. Sa méthode pour déjouer les contrôles de la clinique : s’injecter les virus à lui-même...Mais ce procédé va s’avérer doublement dangereux : porteur du germe mortel ayant contaminé la star Hannah Geist, Syd devient une cible pour les collectionneurs...

Set in a world where fans get so obsessed that they will buy a dose of an illness their chosen star has experienced, Syd works for the company that plays to these people. Syd also steals these illnesses and sells them on the black market, but one illness he partakes of threatens to kill him.The premise of this film is completely bizarre and one of those things that I couldn't begin to contemplate could ever happen. So I approached the film with interest, but found the subject matter a bit difficult to watch. It's not gory but it's very in-your-face and there's a lot of needles and a constant parade of depressing illnesses to take in. This may be fine for some, but the film is quite long at 103 minutes and it feels very stretched out, and after the initial shocks about what is going on, doesn't have much else to say. Caleb Landry Jones is good in the lead role of Syd but he's not given enough to work with - we never really find anything out about him and he has one demeanor only and feels underutilised.This isn't a bad film but feels a bit underdone - it possibly would have been better as a short film instead of a full feature.

Very good movie. Storyline could have been worked on a bit better after the first half. If you liked CL Jones in Byzantium, you will love him here. He's certainly a one-of-a-kind actor and Antiviral is the correct vehicle to bring out his best.

I found this movie to be very interesting, you never really quite know whats going to happen, the characters keep changing and keep you watching till the very end, a great production, and the best part is the idea of seeing a different style of movie that really makes you think, just how far will the fan obssesion go?