It may have originally been conceived as a series for Netflix, but David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds won’t be headed to that streamer anytime soon, as The Criterion Channel will hold streaming rights to the director’s most recent film.
Considering Criterion has a long history with David Cronenberg, it might be no surprise that they will host The Shrouds. This is especially so as Janus Films — who has a long partnership with The Criterion Collection — had distribution rights for The Shrouds alongside Sideshow. Once The Shrouds hits The Criterion Channel on July 8th (with a special 8 p.m. premiere time), it will sit alongside classics like Scanners, The Brood and Dead Ringers, as well as lesser-known works like his first two features, Stereo and Crimes of the Future (so, no, not Viggo Mortensen/Kristen Stewart movie).
Here is The Criterion Channel’s official write-up for The Shrouds: “Long fascinated by the ways that technology is transforming our bodies and minds, David Cronenberg returns with one of his most profoundly personal films, an audacious, elegiac exploration of grief, mortality, and love wrapped in the guise of a corporate-espionage thriller. Karsh (Vincent Cassel) is the enigmatic entrepreneur behind a new tech package that allows bereaved relatives to view their loved ones’ decomposing remains. When his futuristic cemetery is vandalized, he begins to suspect a conspiracy is at work, forcing him to confront the trauma of—and mystery surrounding—the death of his beloved Becca (Diane Kruger). Conceived in the wake of his own wife’s death, THE SHROUDS finds Cronenberg exploring heady ideas around sex, surveillance, and the ultimate body horror: the physical decay that awaits us all.”
While The Shrouds is far from being one of David Cronenberg’s best-reviewed movies (our own Chris Bumbray gave it a 6/10), it’s a nice inclusion for the streamer, who has been making exclusive premieres such as this part of their model as of late. There has also been talk of The Shrouds being the final film of Cronenberg, who turned 82 earlier this year, so it’s well worth seeing if not just for that possibility.
Have you had a chance to see David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds? Will you be catching it on The Criterion Channel next month?
