David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds Explores the Future of Death

David Cronenberg is best known for his films that explore how the human body can be transformed, typically in pretty gruesome fashion. His newest feature, The Shrouds, continues that with a somber examination of death, grief, and their intersection with modern-day technology—and by letting the filmmaker get a little more personal. Set in a “deceptively placid near-future,” the film centers on Karsh (Vincent Kassel), a tech entrepreneur who’s been using new software to watch his dead wife (Diane Kruger) decay in real time. Just as he’s ready for this Shroud tech to get a wider release, all the graves currently using it get smashed up. Soon, Karsh finds himself scrambling to figure out what’s going on and uncertain who to trust—up to and potentially including his wife’s sister, who he’s started sleeping with and is also played by Kruger. Cronenberg wrote The Shrouds following the death of his wife Carolyn in 2017, which gives extra weight to moments in the trailer like Karsh’s opening ... Read full article.