Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Starring: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Sean Bean, Jenniger Jason leigh .Canada. 1h 43m
the junior Cronenberg stirkes again with yet another brilliant, mind bending, reality busting concept, this time he’s matures his process and developed a highly stylish assasination bureau where agents enter the minds of a close associate of their victim via an implant, allowing the prefect kill to be commited, once the job is done, the agent gets their host to commit suicide and they are “pulled” out of the persons mind and back into their own body, it’s advanced, but so simple and intraceable.
No Body is Safe
This near perfect kill technique is tested when an agent begins to unravel, Tasya Vos (Riseborough) struggles with her job vs her quiet home life where she looks after a young son and attempts to keep a fragile relationship together but she continues to take on high risk jobs, while being mentored by a retired agent, Jennifer Jason Leigh who is perfect in her role as a cold mentor and therapist. Riseborough, Lee and Abbott are all well known for playing those more curious roles and to have them all together in one film by this director is such a treat! but back to the film.
For Vos, this latest job doesn’t go to plan and Vos finds herself trapped in the mind of her victim Colin (Abbott) and they have many challenging encounters inside the mind Colin, as he struggles to discover why he’s acting like a psycho trying to kill people and himself, and more important he’s baffled about a peeling faced woman inside his head, is she real?Meanwhile Vos is struggling to hold onto her own mind which is almost leaking away as she’s been out of her body too long and without a body the mind is free to escape, oh and worst of all, her target is on the loose!
There’s a distinct beauty in the murky world the Cronenberg develops alongside cinematographer Karim Hussain, opting to stick to camera effects and practical effects is a blessing that I wholeheartedly salute. There’s a neon lit claustrophobic and deeply unsettling world behind the eyes of the lead cast and it continues throughout the film until its guttural ending.
“Pull me out”
–Tasya Vos
Brandon is really stepping up his game and with each movie he seems to take his time and pulls together some insane and yet striking believable sci fi ideas together in our bleak and doomed futures. Either in this Sci Fi possession romp or the cringey fan boi viral escapade, neither paint a healthy picture for mankind but it seems to be a step we’d be willing to take and this is what makes these visions so powerfully fearful.
TLDR
Rating: 7/10
Related: Antiviral (2012), Infinity Pool (2023), Saint Maud (2019), Mandy (2018)
Lists: Assassination Flicks, Out of one’s Mind
Spotlight: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott,
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