My sister and I have a habit of playing Redbox Roulette, essentially we just pick films (mostly horror or thriller) and hope for the best. On those nights we indulge in the 3 M's; McDonald's, movies (as stated), and medicine. Before you get the wrong idea about us and think we take part in drug use, medicine is code for my beloved Speedy Freeze Coke Icee. Once we got home and settled into our spots, the fun began. While we did watch 4 movies, I have to talk about the one that's been on my mind and kind of bothering me all day. I still don't know if I like it or hate it.
Antiviral is a Canadian "horror film" directed by Brandon Cronenberg. I'm not sure if I would call it a horror film, at least not in the traditional sense. In the very near future, people are even more celebrity-obsessed than the present. So obsessed in fact that their are companies, Lucas Clinic & Vole and Tesser, that deal in purchased viruses and other pathogens from celebrities who fall ill, to inject them into clients who really need to feel a connection to the celebrities they love so much. Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) is employed by the Lucas Clinic, and might be one of the best pitchmen I have ever heard. It's clear to the viewer that not only does he believe what he's saying, but is obsessed too. I think I would buy from him, but maybe not the herpes he injected into a young man's face so he could feel closer to Lucas Clinic's exclusive celebrity Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon). Jones has a way about himself that not only makes you feel just the slightest bit uneasy, but he seems sympathetic as well. That's a hard combo to come across in an actor of just 23 years old.
Syd makes money on the side by injecting himself with the viruses to smuggle them out of the clinic. He then passes the viruses to a "friend" called Arvid who works at Astral Bodies, a celebrity meat market where meat is grown from the cells of celebrities for consumption. Let me just say, the "meat" is extremely gross looking. It's a really strange grey looking Spam type product.
Syd gets the chance to collect a virus directly from Hannah Geist, which he promptly injects into his own system. Of course, without the virus being "purified" for public consumption Syd starts to get terribly ill. As he's fighting the chills, sweats, and delusions Hannah Geist has died or at least that's what the world believes. For about the next hour we see poor Syd fighting an illness no one knows about, get beat up by some black market scientists, and meet his beloved Hannah since she's not dead at all but dying in a beautiful estate owned by an uber fan with loads of cash. This fan is Hannah's physician Dr. Abendroth (Malcolm MacDowell), he then tell Syd that the virus infecting them both has been intentionally created and designed with a security measure to prevent analysis. Dr. Abendroth let's Syd in on the "secret" that he himself has an infatuation with her, having had samples of her skin grafted to his own arm. He suggests that since Syd injected himself with Hannah's blood he is also "just another fan". But that doesn't seem to be the case, for some reason it feels like Syd actually cares about the girl and not the celebrity.
Syd finds out that the rival company Vole and Tesser created the virus that is now killing Hannah and himself. Syd is abducted and locked in a white room to be filmed as he dies, to be broadcast for the masses as a reality show in order for viewers to witness Hannah's "death" which had occurred secretly. He negotiates with the head of Vole and Tesser for the exclusive rights to Hannah Geist's afterlife and a cure for himself. Yes, they harvested most of Hannah's body parts and put her in a cell garden much like the cell garden used to grow the celebrity steaks. They are still injecting her cells with viruses to sell and make loads of money off of! Capitalism at it's finest. Syd is shown at the end cutting her arm and drinking the flowing blood, whispering "She's perfect somehow, isn't she?" Which was part of his pitch for clients, Hannah's deformed face and body is revealed as he injests he blood. The film fades to black.
This film is really a social commentary on the state of affairs we live in. It's a pretty low-budget film, so don't expect any special effects. But this one of the things that works for it. It feels futuristic, but only just enough so that it feels like not too far away. But in a society who get's their news from TMZ and the E! network it's easy to see how this could happen in the future. Do I think I would ever partake in this mass consumption of celebrity? Umm, no. Don't get me wrong I love movies, TV, and all things media but this just isn't for me. Also, I will never look at the meat counter the same way again! Overall though, this is movie that sticks with you and gets under your skin, though thankfully not in the viral way.
