For those who fret that Canadian filmmaking legend David Cronenberg left his "body horror" phase behind long ago, rest assured that Davids' son Brandon keeps that tradition alive here. Caleb Landry Jones stars in this slightly futuristic tale (written by Brandon as well) as Syd March, an employee for the Lucas company. Lucas has built a thriving business selling viruses to devoted fans eager to experience the same things as their idols. Pretty "sick", huh? Syd also smuggles the viruses out of the lab, using his own body, to later sell them to pirates. His trouble arises when he carries the disease recently acquired by starlet Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon); it ends up killing her, and he must find out how to avoid the same fate, while becoming a hot commodity in his hideous line of work.

Some horror fans are sure to get a kick out of this. Although it's too quiet and too slowly paced for some tastes, anybody who's ever complained that a film wasn't gory enough won't be quick to gripe watching this one. Brandon does stay true to his dark and nasty mandate, delivering an ultra-creepy tale that really gets under the skin. (Most of the shots of needles penetrating skin are for real, so maybe avoid this one if you can't stand stuff like that.) The premise is preposterous enough to make for a good satire about the nature of celebrity worship. There's even a subplot about butchers making cuts of meat taken from the cells of celebrities. If nothing else, Brandon is always good at going for the gross-out.

He employs a striking visual aesthetic, as there are lots of stark white backgrounds, and not much variety in terms of colours - excepting, of course, usage of the red stuff.

Jones is an intense actor with a bright future; he definitely reminds this viewer of a young Brad Dourif. The supporting cast includes a number of familiar Canadian faces. Among them is Nicholas Campbell, who'd actually worked with Brandon's dad a few times, as Syds' boss. Malcolm McDowell does "special guest star" / "token name actor" duty, and does a typically solid job.

Brandon hasn't done another feature-length movie for a while now, but perhaps he has been waiting for inspiration to strike. If his next film is anything like this one, it will also be something to remember.

Seven out of 10.

Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) works for Lucas Clinic which buys viruses from celebrities to be injected into obsessed fans who are willing to pay. They have exclusive rights to celebrity Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon) which is very popular. Then he harvests and injects the Geist sample into himself. Others like celebrity butcher Arvid replicates celebrity cells and sells them as meat. Hannah Geist dies and Syd starts to get sicker.

This is a great idea for an original indie. The script needs a few more passes to elevate the tension and add some thrills. The idea seems to be all there is in this movie. It's not particularly exciting. It also needs a section at the beginning to do an exposition on what the products are about, the science behind it and the legal ramifications. Brandon Cronenberg should have made a fake TV ad for the product. It's also probably important to bring in the law early to explain the legal world these products exist in. I love the machine that he gets hooked up to. It's definitely has the Cronenberg style. However the movie lacks any energy. It's creepy but not much more than that. I like the weird creepiness. I'm just waiting for Brandon to take it to the next level.

In the future the cult of celebrity reaches an inane position. People are famous for being famous. They pay to contract the same disease as a celebrity in order to feel closer to them. Meat is grown. synthesized from their DNA and is sold and consumed.

Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) works for the Lucus Clinic an agency whose flagship celebrity is Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon). He freelances on the side, which causes trouble. He contracts a deadly virus shared by Hannah.

The film questions today's celebrity craze, reality star society. I found it interesting and engrossing, but lacking in entertainment as our star mopes about the screen. The dialogue and action was boring and slow. While the film clearly questions the celebrity cult, it fails to create a satire with bite.

Makes for an interesting, near thought provoking rental.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs (?), No sex. Brief nudity.