SYNOPSIS
Antiviral. In an abstract future where celebrity obsession has reached disturbing extremes, wraithlike Syd March works at a sanatorium specialising in diseases of the stars. At The Lucas Clinic, adoring fans can be infected with genetically modified illnesses harvested directly from celebrities, with the shared symptoms bringing the consumer closer to their idol. When Syd infects himself with superstar Hannah Geist’s latest ailment, which he plans to sell on the black market, he discovers his life is in danger after the young starlet suddenly dies, and becomes embroiled in a race against time to uncover the truth and find an antidote. At once a sly satire on celebrity culture, and a wildly inventive exercise in contemporary body horror, Brandon Cronenberg’s debut feature in many ways recalls the unsettling sterility of his father David’s early work, while still irrefutably proving himself a unique and distinctive new talent.
