David Cronenberg’s latest film, The Shrouds, presents a chilling and thought-provoking exploration of grief, technology, and human obsession. In what he calls his most personal work, Cronenberg directs a story where technology meets mourning in a disturbing and surreal way.
Vincent Cassel plays Karsh, a widowed entrepreneur who has found a way to stay connected to his deceased wife, Rebecca, by using a highly unconventional method. After her death from cancer, Karsh had her body wrapped in a metallic shroud equipped with high-tech MRI-like scanners. These devices allow him to monitor her decomposing remains through an app he created, called GraveTech. Using this app, Karsh can view his wife’s decaying body—her bones discoloring, her skull hairless—through his phone or even on her headstone, which has a built-in video screen. While this macabre way of grieving would unsettle most, Karsh finds comfort in it, even describing his connection to her as if “I’m in the grave with her.”
The film is both unsettling and strangely humorous, especially during a blind-date sequence where Karsh meets a divorcée, Myrna, played by Jennifer Dale. The contrast between their personal losses and their awkward interaction underscores the absurdity of the situation, with Karsh’s obsession with Rebecca’s body adding an eerie depth to his character.
The Shrouds grapples with the idea of grief’s lingering power—the struggle to move on and the disturbing possibility of commodifying loss through technology. Cronenberg’s take on techno-paranoia takes the viewer into a world where grief becomes an industry, exploring what happens when the lines between memory, technology, and obsession blur beyond recognition.
Related topics:
Original ‘Star Wars’ Cut to Screen in London This Summer
Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon – Animated Film Premiere in April 2025
Original ‘Star Wars’ Cut to Screen in London This Summer