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 line about wanting to join his late wife in the coffin. The logline calls the film a “profoundly personal reckoning with grief and a descent into noir-tinged dystopia,” which is all present in the preview, along with a slight dash of comedy. Cronenberg screened the film at Cannes 2024, where it racked up solid reviews from critics.

Also starring Guy Pearce and Sandrine Holt, The Shrouds will premiere on April 18 in New York and LA ahead of its larger theatrical release on April 25.

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