Infinity Pool

INFINITY POOL (18)

D: Brandon Cronenberg

Elevation Pictures / Film Forge / 4Film / Hero Squared / Telefilm Canada / Eurimages / The Croatian Audiovisual Centre / Celluloid Dreams (Karen Harnisch, Andrew Cividino, Christina Piovesan, Noah Segal, Rob Cotterill, Anita Juka, Daniel Kresmery & Jonathan Halperyn)

Canada/Croatia/Hungary 🇨🇦🇭🇷🇭🇺 2023

118 mins

Horror/Thriller/Science Fiction

W: Brandon Cronenberg

DP: Karim Hussain

Ed: James Vandewater

Mus: Tim Hecker

Alexander Skarsgård (James Foster), Mia Goth (Gabi Bauer), Jalil Lespert (Alban Bauer), Cleopatra Coleman (Em Foster), Amanda Brugel (Jennifer)

*SPOILERS*

Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool is eerie, twisted and thrilling, three attributes I personally hold in high regard when making an effective horror film.

Failed author James Foster (Skarsgård) and his wife Em are enjoying a vacation at a resort in a corrupt, violent country when they are approached by Gabi Bauer, who claims to be a fan of James’ work and her husband, Alban.  Together, they visit a beach outside of the resort complex and on the return journey are involved in a hit-and-run. Upon arrest, James is told that he has two options, face the death penalty for his crime, or pay to have himself cloned so that his double can receive punishment in his stead.

It soon emerges that Gabi & Alban had also taken this option previously, and return to the resort every year to carry out crime sprees and watch their clones face punishment for their actions.

A sinister atmosphere from start to finish, with a suitably creepy performance from Mia Goth.  James Foster does make for a very weak protagonist though, but that’s somehow the point - a blank slate character for the audience to find themselves in the shoes of.

7/10