Infinity Pool (Brandon Cronenberg, 2023)

SPOILERS

I haven't seen Brandon Cronenberg's first feature Antiviral (2012). But 2020's Possessor stunned me, bearing the influence of his father David, sure, but with a fresh enough take to make one eager for his next vision. So especially with some star wattage behind it, Infinity Pool seemed like a slam dunk when, in fact, it's a major gaffe in a promising career.

The rudely beautiful Alexander Skarsgård stars as James Foster, an unsuccessful novelist on vacation with his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) in the fictional town of Li Tolqa (the exteriors were shot at a seaside resort in Croatia). There's some tension in the marriage, perhaps stemming from the fact that the wealthy Em (her father is a publisher) supports James. They meet a couple, Gabi and Alban Bauer (Mia Goth and Jalil Lespert), and spend a boozy day together outside of the resort. As an inebriated James drives back in the middle of the night, he accidentally hits a local man with the car, killing him almost instantly. James wants to call the police. But Gabi and Alban convince him to return to the resort since the authorities will not give him a fair hearing. However, the next morning, police arrive at their room and take James and Em to a prison compound where they learn they can, for an exorbitant amount of money, have a clone created which will then be executed (in this first instance, by a vengeful family member of the deceased) instead of the real James.

A slight smile develops on James' face when he sees his clone gutted which Em finds repulsive. But the execution has apparently scratched such a deep itch in James that he hides his passport and tells Em it's been stolen in order to stay in town. Soon he discovers that Gabi and Alban are part of a small group of rich psychos who visit the resort on a regular basis with the express purpose of watching their clones executed for the seasonal crimes they commit. It happens so frequently that one member of this gruesome cabal begins to wonder if he's real or if he's his clone.

Had Cronenberg followed that logic, he could've fashioned a film on par with the identity hijinks of A History of Violence (David Croneberg, 2005), a film that makes you question the very plasticity of your existence. That way, the extreme closeups of skin could have generated some ontological horror. Instead, Cronenberg abandons this propitious thread and swerves into (White Lotus fan, take note) yet another critique of rich white privilege as Gabi and company start to torture James by tricking him into murdering a clone of himself.

Even more bewildering, Cronenberg reveals so little about James' behavior or history that we don't know why he's so attracted to such a hideous practice and the rich ghouls who abuse it. As I tire of explaining, there 👏 must 👏 be 👏 something 👏 at 👏 narrative 👏 stake. Else James' sudden bloodlust becomes just an excuse to indulge in two hours of torture porn. We know he's having marital difficulties. We assume (although we shouldn't have to in a narrative film) that he resents taking Em's money. We can glean some moral failing when he allows Gabi to give him a hand job during their day excursion. But those meager bits of story information do not lead to James craving to see his carbon copy murdered without stretching narrative logic and emotion too far out of shape. Thus the ensuing psychedelic orgies and the climactic scene where he nurses on Gabi's breast after killing yet another of his clones have no import beyond their immediate shock assuming it even generates one. And that leaves the ending with nowhere to go as the rich folk act as if nothing happened on their way back home and James returns to the now-closed resort during monsoon season, sitting in the rain (how cleansing!) perhaps to ponder how he wound up in this situation. If he figures it out in the sequel, then maybe he can clue us in on it.

Grade: C+