2023 Sundance Film Festival Movie Review: Infinity Pool

Infinity Pool was one of my most anticipated movies of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Director Brandon Cronenberg, son of the legendary David Cronenberg, has immediately established himself as an exciting voice in horror with his first two films, 2012’s Antiviral and 2020’s Possessor, one of my favorite movies from that year’s Sundance, by making visceral, grotesque horror films that run in the same vein as his father’s iconic body horror films while also having their own style to them.

Unfortunately, Infinity Pool was a real dud to watch and so far the only Brandon Cronenberg movie I do not care for. While it does feature some horrific violence and shocking scenes, Infinity Pool felt entirely empty and void of any interesting ideas or themes.

Infinity Pool is like an even more twisted version of HBO’s White Lotus. It takes us to a beautiful resort island where James (Alexander Skarsgård) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman) are enjoying a relaxing vacation. One day on the island, James and Em meet Gabi (Mia Goth) and her husband Alban (Jalil Lespert) and start hanging out with them, One day, they leave the resort for a picnic and on the way back, James, driving, gets into a horrible accident that leaves one man dead. This brings James and Em down a path into the island’s perversive subculture of violence, crime, and surreal horror.

Infinity Pool had a lot of interesting ideas at the beginning of the film that, if followed through on, would have elevated this movie into something really special. But instead, Cronenberg abandons any and all interesting ideas that started at the beginning of the film and focuses mostly on shocking the audience. The world that James ends up in after the accident is surprising and original and looks at ideas of a desensitized world of violence and also understanding our own mortality and our own bodies. These ideas are right in Cronenberg’s wheelhouse, someone whose father has made movies about violence and the fluidity of our bodies and something that Brandon has also delved into, particularly in Possessor. 

But the last hour of the Infinity Pool felt like an empty mess. It was like Cronenberg forgot all about the themes he had established in the first hour and finished the movie off by just torturing Skarsgård, a perfect actor to torture since Skarsgård has a history of intense, physically demanding performances. 

Much like the delirious performance by Goth, as a woman who claims to be a fan of James but ends up being his worth nightmare, Infinity Pool is over-the-top and all over the place. There was plenty of violence and gross-out moments, but it all felt empty and forced. Cronenberg did a great job with where and when he used his brutal violence in Possessor, but in Infinity Pool, it felt like he just wanted violence for violence’s sake. Cronenberg made a shocking movie, not a movie with shocking moments, and there is a difference.

Infinity Pool is a disappointing effort from Brandon Cronenberg, but I am still excited about him as a director and his career going forward. He has a keen visual style and makes movies that will make you squirm. With more focus on its themes and proper utilization of violence and gore, Infinity Pool may have been something great.

Infinity Pool premiered in the Midnight category at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

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