INFINITY POOL (Brandon Cronenberg, 2023)

Brandon “Baby” Cronenberg tries very hard and struggles with his own worth metaphorically in Infinity Pool, two hours of nasty fun, a surreal but plodding film full of striking visuals and cheeky, deadpan dialogue. It exudes an engaging Hitchcock vibe when it works best and has that familiar and comforting set of “naive couple meet dangerous couple on vacation” tropes to play with, all sketched out in a lovely European landscape. Also of note, Thomas Kretschmann’s performance was the acting high point and featured some of Cronenberg’s best Kafka-esque dialogue, although Mia Goth’s British allure and sneering delivery were also (mostly) entertaining. Recommended if you liked Cronenberg’s previous film Possessor, or scenes involving rare hallucinogens and bloody breastfeedings.