Cronenberg’s ‘The Shrouds’ is “His Most Personal Film” and About The Passing of His Late Wife

I love how we have a new David Cronenberg film to look forward to next year. It’s called “The Shrouds.”

Production on Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds” wrapped on June 19th. It was a four week shoot. At 80 years of age, David Cronenberg is as efficient as ever.

The film was originally supposed to start production this past March, but casting issues resulted in minor delays. Léa Seydoux was replaced by Diane Kruger. She stars alongside Vincent Cassel and Guy Pearce in the film.

As guest of honor at the Zurich Film Festival, Kruger revealed that she's playing three roles in "The Shrouds": The wife of Cassel's character, the sister of the wife, and "an avatar, a sort of personal assistant".

Kruger confirms that it's a film about grief and probably the “most personal film of Cronenberg’s career”, hinting that it’s actually about the recent passing of the legendary filmmaker’s wife:

“We just finished filming it. I think it might be his most personal film, because it talks about him and the passing of his wife […] I was very emotional making it, because I knew it was so close to him and he was a little bit detached because of it. I could feel him being so vulnerable. I hope it’s going to be great.

The plot of this mysterious sci-fi film is said to take place in a world where people can watch their deceased relatives decaying in real-time. Here’s a more thorough plot synopsis:

Cassel will play Karsh, an innovative businessman and grieving widower, who builds a novel device to connect with the dead inside a burial shroud. This burial tool installed at his own state-of-the-art – though controversial cemetery allows him and his clients to watch their specific departed loved one decompose in real time. Karsh’s revolutionary business is on the verge of breaking into the international mainstream when several graves within his cemetery are vandalized and nearly destroyed, including that of his wife. While he struggles to uncover a clear motive for the attack, the mystery of who wrought this havoc, and why, drive him to reevaluate his business, marriage and fidelity to his late wife’s memory, as well as push him to new beginnings.

Expect this one at next year’s Cannes Film Festival, which is also where Cronenberg premiered his last film, 2022’s “Crimes of the Future.” Cronenberg almost quit making films after 2014’s “Maps to the Stars” only to come back eight years later with ‘Crimes’. “I thought I was finished, but I hope to commit more crimes in the future, by making more films.”