Earlier this year,Brandon Cronenbergfrightened and disturbed audiences with his latest subversive horror darlingInfinity Pool. Following in the footsteps of his 2020 hitPossessor, the film sendsAlexander Skarsgårdon a vacation from Hell as he experiences the haunting culture of a resort he and his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) are visiting. Initially given the dreaded NC-17 rating, the film had toundergo several cutsin order to get back down to an R rating for theaters. Cronenberg wants fans to experience the full breadth of his sci-fi terror, however, and thus he and distributor NEON have teamed to bring bothInfinity PoolandPossessorto three special screenings in their full uncut glory this June to celebrate the former’s uncut VOD release on June 13.
The event, aptly titled “‘Brandon Cronenberg Uncut,” will see both films played back-to-back in three different locations - June 20 in San Francisco at the Alamo Drafthouse, June 21 in Los Angeles at the Aero Theatre with Beyond Fest and American Cinematheque, and June 23 in New York at the Metrograph. For all three, Cronenberg himself will be there to answer any questions regardinghis unique horror featuresbetween screenings.
“What makes this special is that this is the first timeInfinity Poolis playing free of MPA interference in US theaters – it only played at Sundance,” Cronenberg said of the screening.Infinity Poolmade its debut at Sundance whereit earned solid reviewsfrom those who had the chance to see it. Duringan interview with Colliderout of the festival, Cronenberg even commented on the NC-17 rating system, acknowledging that, while the version audiences saw was mostly the same, there was no avoiding some losses to his vision in the cuts. It was especially important for him, then, to get both films together in their intended form for audiences on the big screen. “PossessorUncut played Sundance and Beyond Fest in 2020 before playing drive-ins during COVID. It’s the first time these films are playing uncut together.”
RELATED:‘Infinity Pool’ Featurette: Mia Goth on How the Film Will Redefine Horror
What ArePossessorandInfinity PoolAbout?
Consideredone of 2020’s best films, let alone horror films,Possessortakes a depraved lookat skilled corporate assassin Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) who executes her high-profile marks by controlling the bodies of other people through a special implant, forcing them to commit suicide once she’s done. She slowly starts to lose touch with her own sense of identity, but things take a dire turn when she ends up trapped in a host named Tate (Christopher Abbott) whom she struggles to take control of.
Infinity Poolplays with identity as well as it follows James (Skarsgård) and Em to a resort in a foreign country where they meet another couple, Gabi (Mia Goth) and Alban (Jalil Lespert), whom they hit it off with. When James accidentally kills someone in a driving accident, however, he faces the punishment of death under the country’s law. He quickly learns that the wealthiest criminals can get around this bypaying for a clone to be executedin his stead, sparking a twisted desire in James that pushes him deeper into the culture of the resortand ultimately breaks him.
Infinity Pooluncut will be available through VOD on June 13 or, if you can’t wait, it’s alsoavailable to rent directly through NEON.Possessoris available to stream on Hulu. Check out our interview with theInfinity Poolcast down below.
