Infinity Pool

Horror is a genre that invites harsh and fairly definitive (if subjective) reactions: either the work is scary, or it’s not. This is likely to be further compounded by the director’s previous output, with inescapable comparisons about whether the new film is as scary or impactful as the last. This is a problem that Canadian director Brandon Cronenberg can’t escape, and while Infinity Pool can confidently stand on its own two feet, it doesn’t quite create the same visceral unease as Possessor, Cronenburg’s 2020 debut. 

Failed novelist James (Alexander Skarsgård) and his wife Em, (Cleopatra Coleman), are on holiday in the fictional (and seemingly Eastern European) country of Li Tolqa, which is apparently the section behind the Iron Curtain where they kept the nicest beaches. After befriending the enigmatic Gabi (Mia Goth) and her husband, Alban (Jalil Lespert), the quartet inadvertently reenact I Know What You Did Last Summer with a hit-and-run accident. Caught by the police, James is offered a morbid solution: Li Tolqa is able to create sentient doubles of people, and they can then be executed for the crimes of their originals. As expected, it all becomes a bit tumultuous from this point.

Cronenberg has delivered a second film that’s mesmerising and unsettling in equal measure. Direct comparisons to Possessor are unhelpful (if instinctive), and Infinity Pool is a very different offering. Before anything else, it’s funnier – with the disclaimer that any laughter may be nervous. The cinematography is both acrobatic and conspicuously disorienting. Cronenberg favours extreme close-ups of his company, allowing anyone who’s so inclined to count the pores in Alexander Skarsgård’s nose. And his character takes the only option available to him in such nightmarish chaos: he goes for broke as he’s introduced to the macabre possibilities offered by having a surrogate take any and all punishment for his actions. 

Good horror may not be explicitly scary, and can be horrifying on a level that triggers intangible discomfort and unrest. Infinity Pool can confidently take its place in the latter category.

Oliver Johnston

Infinity Pool is released nationwide on 24^th March 2023.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2023 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for Infinity Pool here: