Review of Antiviral (2012) by Dan H — 15 Aug 2013

A darkly disturbing vision of a horrific future where obsession wih celebrity has run widly out of control, leading to businesses where people can pay to be injected with diseases contracted by celebrities and eateries where people pay to consume meat consisting of muscle cells extracted from celebrities.

Caleb Landry Jones is superb as our protagonist, Syd, who works at one of the celebrity virus clinics and finds himself in a race to save his own life. The film is admittedly slowly paced, but it has enough twists, turns, and surprises to keep you watching.

Branden Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg, is at the helm here and he crafts a fascinating and repulsng film, painting with whites and reds. The film has a sterile yet dirty feel to it. He also proves to be adept at using a camera.

Antiviral is a smart thriller with some killer social commentary. Branden Cronenberg is off to a great start.