“The Shrouds” 

(Drama/Mystery/Science-Fiction: 2 hours) 

Starring: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Sandrine Holt and Guy Pearce

Director: David Cronenberg

Rated: R (Strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language and violent content)

Movie Review:

“The Shrouds” is another quintessential film by David Cronenberg (“The Fly,” 1986; “Crimes of the Future,” 2022). This means it is an acquired taste for those who love his screenplays for their originality and highbrow intellectual concepts. Like numerous other screenplays by him, this one also is weird, but not so much as his previous works.

Cassel plays Karsh Relikh, an Elon Musk-type futurist. Still grieving his wife Becca (Kruger), Karsh takes his date, Jennifer Dale (Myrna Shovlin), to see his wife’s grave. Clearly, the man is not ready to date again. Even with a woman he finds desirable, Karsh still visualizes them as his wife. More interestingly amusing, Myrna terminates the date after seeing Becca’s grave as if other red flags are not present long before.

Karsh owns GraveTech, a cemetery with a restaurant on its premises. GraveTech caters to a special technological burial ground where deceased loved ones are placed in cocoon-like shrouds that have high-resolution cameras, so that loved ones can watch their deceased decaying bodies in the grave. Do not ask why; just go with it. Soon, a Grave Tech site where Becca is buried is vandalized. Karsh, his sister-in-law Terry (also Kruger), his wife’s twin, and Maury (Pierce), Terry’s ex-husband, find a bigger mystery exists with some of the bodies in GraveTech’s shrouds.

The actors form a solid cast. Cassel is charming. Kruger is intuitively cunning in multiple roles. Pearce is dynamic, the perfect tech nerd, and Holt is an enigmatic treat. They exist in a world of dream sequences and hidden ambitions. Everyone seems a suspect for something undetermined.

Cronenberg creates a mystery to solve with “The Shrouds,” a photoplay inspired by grief after the death of his wife, Carolyn Cronenberg. He gets away from solving that mystery. He plants many distractions within this movie. Decomposing corpses, unusual sexual sequences that deal with parts of a woman’s body having been severed, and an AI personal assistant that seems more like a stalker. Of course, visuals are keen, as with Cronenberg movies. Some scenes are morbid, inspiring meaningful thoughts about grief and strategic, disarming humor at other moments. However, the ending is ambiguous to the point that caring what happens next is pointless.

Cronenberg’s plot is not about the mystery, which may or may not be real. That is left open for audiences to ponder. Cronenberg’s concern is the human condition juxtaposed with technological advancements and ethics that accompany relationships. Therefore, this movie has the Cronenberg stamp all over it. He is an artist whether you like his abstracts or not.

Grade: B- (Shrouded in mystery is the human experience.)

 

“The Legend of Ochi”

(Fantasy/Adventure/Family: 1 hour, 35 minutes) 

Starring: Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson

Director: Isaiah Saxon

Rated: PG (Violent content, bloody imagery, smoking, thematic elements and language)

Movie Review:

In the same manner that “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) entertained children and adults, “The Legend of Ochi” does similarly. Director-writer Isaiah Saxon used a past short story to construct an amiable screenplay.

The movie starts with a young girl named Yuri (Zengel), who finds an injured animal whose species, the Ochi, has been hunted for centuries by the Carpathians. She nurses the wounded baby animal and ventures to return the animal to its home. Her trek will not be easy, considering townsfolk, led by Maxim (Dafoe), are trying to kill the animal riding on her back. Maxim, his lieutenant Petro (Wolfhard) and a young posse believe they are rescuing Yuri from a dangerous animal.

The child Ochi is an adorable creature, a seemingly mix of a monkey and “Star Wars’” Yoda. The Ochi communicate through a series of musical vocalizations. The movie creates an endearing creature. Likewise, the adventure Yuri takes on with baby Ochi is engaging. Yuri is brave, and her quest to return the youngling to its familial home is admirable.

This movie offers characters who provide lessons — just because something is different does not imply it is dangerous. “Legend of Ochi” is about overcoming fears and prejudices to do a just action. Yuri and the baby Ochi provide engaging entertainment throughout. However, the ending, while suspenseful, feels like a rushed moment considering the buildup to it. Otherwise, Isaiah Saxon’s directorial debut for a full-length feature should be an easy movie for children and parents to enjoy.  

Grade: B (Ochi creates a gratifying adventure.)