Premise: Not-so-successful writer seeking inspiration for his next book travels to a La Tolqa, a fictional Eastern-bloc country set on what appears to be the Black Sea. He quickly is sucked into socializing with a group of Western tourists who have discovered a quirk in the host country's legal system: Any crime you commit in the host country can be "redeemed" with a large payment to the local officials and a type of ceremony where a doppelgänger of the criminal is created and then executed in place of the "real" self.
In short, the heart of the horror is a sort of reverse-Dorian Gray where morally repugnant acts are carved-off as a separate entity and then destroyed, leaving the perpetrator to indulge in further acts of depravity.
So, what is left of the "real" self in such an arrangement? (If you have seen "Possessor," the thematic preoccupation is very similar.)
The two central characters are Skarsgard's "James" and Goth's "Gabi." From the beginning, James proves himself to be an empty vessel who is more than willing to be towed out to sea by the beguiling (and increasingly cruel) siren Gabi. Despite the presence of his wife at the resort, James abandons any loyalties he might have to her or her own concerns with what is going on. And, in contrast to newcomer-James, Gabi's social circle appears to have existed in this bizarre world of excess and violent privilege for, well, forever. Yet, they seem to effortlessly enter and exit that world at will (back to L. A., of course!).
But what of James? What he becomes and where he ends up in the closing segments are far from clear. (Emptier than what he already was? A shell of a shell?).
"Infinity Pool" is a confident but cold movie. It reminds me quite a bit of the cult-group/occult horror movies that were made circa 1969-1974. The film uses quite a bit of arthouse-style flash imagery (the hues are different, but I was reminded of Norm Li's work in Panos Cosmatos' films). And despite the events taking place on a linear narrative, they are nonetheless sometimes difficult to follow due to Cronenberg's cinematic choices. In short, I can understand the polarizing reviews. I myself have mixed feelings. The film is very well done, the acting top-notch, and Cronenberg certainly attempts much more than the average horror flick director. But the "point" of the film is not always clear . . . And I felt like soaking in Dawn after viewing it. Recommended, with an asterisk.
