Infinity Pool is a film that overwhelms the senses with extreme and graphic imagery on the fringes of conventional cinema. Writer/director Brandon Cronenberg takes aim at entitled excess through a hedonistic trip of fleshly sadism. A meek protagonist makes a deal with the devil, ignorant of its diabolical stakes. The twisted assault becomes too much for the story to bear. It’s saved by wickedly delightful Mia Goth, who gives a tempestuous performance as an attraction unto herself — she’s splendidly malevolent as the devil on your shoulder that turns innocence into withering regret.
Failed writer James Foster (Alexander Skarsgård) is taken on holiday by his rich wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman). The island of Li Tolqa is poor but boasts lush resorts surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire fences. Locals serve guests but aren’t allowed to enjoy their surroundings. Signs warn visitors to stay within demarcated areas or risk becoming “uncertain” among the common folk.
Beautiful, seductive Gabi (Goth) approaches James out of nowhere one day; she and her older husband Alban (Jalil Lespert) come every year. She effusively praises James’ first novel, which was panned. She’s been waiting for his second book to come out. After being constantly emasculated by Em, James gets an ego boost from Gabi’s attention. She invites him and Em on a day trip away from all this touristy stuff.
The two couples eat, drink and lounge on a sunny beach all day long — it looks like paradise until you look at it too hard. James sees how provocative Gabi can be for the first time when she rubs sunscreen between her breasts right in front of him. He volunteers to drive back in Alban’s stead after they’ve all had too much booze that night; he hits something very large and alive on that dark road. A shocked James and Em follow Gabi’s ruthless lead: Return to the hotel like nothing happened. The relief is short-lived when they’re arrested the next morning by Detective Thresh (Thomas Kretschmann), who tells James he’s been convicted of murder. A swift execution awaits at the police station, though visitors to Li Tolqa have a second option if they can pay for it: A clone will be made to suffer the sentence in their stead.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree — Antiviral, Possessor filmmaker Cronenberg follows faithfully in his father’s sci-fi/horror footsteps with Infinity Pool, but this is its own beast. It gets weird right off the bat; rotating camera angles and drunken close-ups prime us for what’s to come. And then it gets more explicit than you’d ever think a movie could be — there are scenes that seem like fever dreams until they turn into something even more hideous as you watch them. They’re accompanied by stomach-churning acts of violence so realistic I don’t know how this film has an R-rating; if I saw an unrated version, I didn’t know it.
James is a kept man with no real talent; he falls into Gabi’s honey trap easily. But fear soon becomes arousal under her wicked spell: Who cares about consequences when every bought clone takes every fall? Elites can indulge any evil until their attention moves on — and that’s bad news for James.
Infinity Pool keeps you locked in for about an hour before it starts losing you — there’s only so much freaky one can process before checking out mentally. The premise wears thin after a while; it becomes less suspenseful and more of an exercise in shock and wincing. Still, Goth steals yet another movie with raw audacity; she beguiles and frightens, and she seems unstoppable after this year’s X and its prequel Pearl.
This movie is not for children. There should be an epilepsy warning attached to the credits for all the strobing lights we’re subjected to. Film Forge presents a production of Elevation Pictures, Telefilm Canada, Eurimages and The Croatian Audiovisual Centre.
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