Brandon Cronenberg (the son of the master of body horror, David Cronenberg) released his third feature film in 2023 entitled Infinity Pool o infinite death starring Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth. And to be fair, it is one of the most interesting film proposals within this tendency to criticize the perversions of the highest classes.
One more? Yeah, it’s not an entirely original idea. But Infinity Pool it is very different from the othersand beware, that does not mean that other titles are bad, but that Cronenberg’s idea stands out for several reasons. like the mix of science fiction and gore added to an impressive performance by both protagonists (especially Goth, but let’s get to that in a little while).
What is Infinity Pool about?
Infinity Pool has as its protagonist James Foster, a mediocre writer who goes to a luxury resort with his wife Em, to find inspiration for his next novel.. The thing is, Foster’s first book was published six years ago and it was a critical and sales disaster.
We soon discovered that this novel was published thanks to the influences of his father-in-law, a billionaire. The hotel that James and Em stay at is located in Li Tolqa, a fictional country located on an island. The place where it takes place Infinity Pool is described as a small country with a poor, ultra-conservative and “uncivilized” community.
The Pa Qlqa Pearl Princess Hotel in Infinity Pool invites its guests to never leave the facilities, as the conditions outside are so critical that they could be at risk.
But James and Em ignore it when they meet Gabi and her husband Alban, a couple who come once a year to this place and invites them to a beach outside the resort to eat and drink.
Starting from this, James and Em discover that Li Tolqa’s laws are quite severe, but also flexible with people who can pay not only for their freedom, but also for a false idea of justice. with which the citizens of Li Tolqa must settle.
In other words, both of them, especially James, discover the way to commit any crime with total impunity as part of a government program for tourists (with economic capital, yes).
With this in mind, there are two questions we must ask ourselves in Infinity Pool: Does wealth allow impunity to be infinite? And are there physical, moral and mental limits to that invented justice?
The opulence of the upper classes as a topic of conversation
In recent years as with Infinity Poolas we mentioned, we have seen several satires or thrillers that seek to demonstrate the absurd behaviors that upper-class people take when faced with situations in which their reality is disturbed. Let’s not go too far. It was released last year The Menu y Triangle of Sadness.
The latter received special attention not only because it won the Palme d’Or in 2022 and received nominations for the 2023 Oscars, but also because very obviously, he talks about how opulence obfuscates the reality of the most privileged; that is to say, and we are not talking about the meme, that the rich (very rich) live in a completely altered reality. Here we leave our review.
But these tapes, somewhat similar in recent years, come from a conversation from years ago that was portrayed with great originality in Funny Games by Michael Haneke from 1997and that we believe is taken up, in some way, in Infinity Pool the Brandon Cronenberg.
Infinity Pool y Funny Games
In Funny Games, a family goes to their summer house to spend the holidays. Here they meet two young men who insistently come to the house until their violent intentions are revealed. Under physical and mental torture, these two subjects they hurt the family for the hell of it, because they can, because at that moment they have absolute power over their lives.
Funny Games not a horror movie as perbut it is one of the most terrifying stories ever told: violence for the possibility that power grants.
However. The films that criticize the upper classes and their ways of managing themselves make us understand that money is what gives power, extreme wealth allows them to behave in brutal ways. And it is not a lie, because it happens in explicit ways in our reality.
However, the most interesting Funny Games of Michael Haneke is that he raises the idea (even more terrifying) that power exists with or without the monetary element.
Power is born when a person’s morality is null compared to someone else’s. And so, as in Infinity Pool, the harsh reality is this: a gun in hand aimed at killing should be invaluable in the sense that a life belongs to the one who aims it. We are talking about a human life!
But we don’t see it that way. Under capitalism, the value of people lies in their economic and material assets, and the less a person has, the less value they have. Therefore, the consequences of acts of violence against a lower-class victim should be minimal, especially if the perpetrator has more possessions.
And with that premise it is managed Infinity Pool (As a mix between current criticism and Haneke’s idea). For Cronenberg, You can’t talk about opulence without mentioning power, but that power is also distinguished among the upper classes who have less money. In short, when one rich man is richer than the other. And from there come many other perversions.
The power and the beasts in ‘Infinity Pool’
So far we understand that the value of people lies in their possessions. In Infinity Pool there are dynamics between the richest and the least rich. That is how James Foster, a nobody whose wealth comes from his marriage, becomes the pet of the most powerful.
That’s why in Infinity Pool, as well as in Funny Games, violence, abuse and brutality come from the power that humans assume under certain circumstances regardless of money. And that is also reflected in the possibilities that the government of a poor country offers tourists: violent responses to violent environments.
Gabi’s character, in this case, takes command of the group of rich people who vacation once a year in Li Tolqa to commit crimes with impunity. At first, it seems that they want James in the dynamic, but we soon discover that he is part of the cruel and violent game that they play year after year. James is an animal, and should be treated as such…
We need to talk about how spectacular Mia Goth is
The cast of Infinity Pool is sensational commanded by Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth. And while they’re both impressive in the characters of James Foster and Gabi, it’s Goth that excels with such complex character and plot development.
In Infinity PoolGabi is a Londoner living in Los Angeles. For a few years she has been going to the island. Her first time there was for her husband’s work reasons, but after an accident, they discover the program for tourists where crimes can be committed with impunity.
The addiction that this kind of power generates, it leads her to behave in radical ways. And on the tape, she does it in order to manipulate James. She starts as a sweet woman (fan of the writer) until she is a cruel psychopath with a thirst for violence and brutality.
Since her debut in 2013 with Lars von Trier in Nymphomaniac IIMia Goth has decided to work on less commercial projects that gave her the tools to carry three of the most intriguing female and horror characters of recent years: Gaby in Infinity Pool and Maxine/Pearl in Pearl y X.
Mia Goth’s filmography is incredible with tapes like Sighs by Luca Guadagnino, High Life from Claire Denis to Emma the Autumn de Wilde. With the horror trilogy directed by Ti West that integrates Pearl, X y MaXXXine (no release date yet), Goth surpasses itself in surprising ways. Infinity Pool is the ultimate test.
Everything seems to indicate that will appear in the version of Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro. Here we tell you more about the possible cast. And here we leave the trailer of Pearl:
