Canada | Croatia | Hungary 2023
Opening April 20, 2023
Directed by: Brandon Cronenberg
Writing credits: Brandon Cronenberg
Principal actors: Alexander Skarsgård, Mia Goth, Cleopatra Coleman, Jalil Lespert, Thomas Kretschmann
James (Alexander Skarsgård), a failed writer, and his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman), the wealthy daughter of a publisher, are on the island of Li Tolqa to enjoy an all-inclusive resort vacation. When James meets Gabi (Mia Goth) and Alban (Jalil Lespert), fans of his failed book, he is excited for some change and the two couples escape the resort to go on an unauthorized excursion on the island. The only problem is that Li Tolqa has some rather brutal laws where any form of violence is met with a death sentence. When an accident occurs, James is drawn into the dark subculture of hedonism that exists amongst certain tourists on the resort and things quickly get out of hand.
Infinity Pool is one of those types of horror movies that is almost hilariously over-the-top. There are drug-fueled orgies, explicit deaths, casual violence, and everything in between. All of this is used to highlight how the wealthy tend to use their money to get away with crimes and how by doing so they quickly descend into a kind of inhumanity where they are bound by no ethics or laws. Now, whether this point needed to be made with extended psychedelic orgy scenes and brutality which culminate in Alexander Skarsgård suckling blood off of someone’s breast is, I suppose, a matter of personal taste. Some will undoubtedly revel in the craziness of Infinity Pool while others see it as an example of unsubtle schlock. Regardless, one thing is abundantly true, this is a film that you aren’t likely to forget anytime soon, whether you want to or not. )