Antiviral brings Cronenberg father-son act to Cannes

Syringes of infected blood, festering sores and sterile white labs are the images of Antiviral, as young film maker Brandon Cronenberg borrows themes of disease and bodily transformation that have made his father David king of the body horror genre.The film debuted at the Cannes film festival recently as part of the Un Certain Regard competition for emerging directors.Antiviral follows clinic worker Syd March, played by Caleb Landry Jones who with his pale skin and lanky frame has the look of a young undertaker.Syds job is to sell obsessed fans their favourite celebritys infections. The world Cronenberg paints is bleak and cynical, and he is unsparing with his close ups of needles entering veins.Grey-hued steaks made from celebrity cells, skin grafts from celebrities skin and copious amounts of vomited blood all have a place in the thriller, which despite the nausea-inducing horror, moves at the speed of a clinic waiting room.Cronenberg, 32, said his debut feature was one manifestation of a broader human impulse, to deify people, to create gods and then tear them apart.I find it fairly fascinating, he said of celebrity culture. People are so incredibly fanatical, that never ceases to amaze me how crazy people are. I think it can be incredibly grotesque at times.As for his famous father, Cronenberg said he had never pushed him into film: When I decided it was something I wanted to do, he was completely supportive.I have a great relationship with my dad so being able to share this together is really cute and emotional, he said of being in Cannes together. Hes very cute.David Cronenberg -- who attended Antivirals press screening along with Tim Roth, president of the Un Certain Regard competitions jury -- is one of Canadas best-known directors for his dark films like The Fly and Crash.Dubbed the Baron of Blood, the elder Cronenberg favours themes that deal with psychological and physical deterioration and disease.