2.33 | A divorced man grapples for custody of his daughter with his ex-wife who's undergoing intensive psychological therapy. Directed by David Cronenberg Starring Art Hindle, Samantha Egger, and Oliver Reed Review by Jon Kissel |
Of all the auteurs who write and direct their own movies, David Cronenberg doesn’t leap to the top of mind as the creator of personal films. His combination of body horror, cultural satire, and psychodrama is unique enough without having to read details from Cronenberg’s life into his work. With The Brood, an early Cronenberg entry made in the wake of a bad divorce, one can see that a mind as acidic as his can go to some dark and cruel places when people from his life are subbing into his movies, particularly when the protagonist’s mother is depicted as a cultish monster who’s trying to keep her kids from her ex-husband. However, perhaps it’s the getting all of his ugly feelings onscreen that puts Cronenberg on his path, moving away from the gorefests that predated The Brood and towards the richer territory of what comes after. Characters expelling their psychological baggage to transform into their higher selves is a hallmark of Cronenberg’s career, and his divorce and the film he made about it may well serve as the catalyst.
The film centers on Frank Carveth's (Art Hindle) attempts to fully separate himself from his ex-wife Nola (Samantha Egger), currently residing in Dr. Hal Raglan's (an excellent Oliver Reed) psychiatric retreat. His daughter has begun to develop bruises and a sullen demeanor following her visits with Nola, but he cannot legally keep her from seeing her mother. Per Dr. Raglan’s rules, Frank can’t see his ex-wife either. There's reason to believe Frank's suspicions are well-founded. Raglan's patients go through intense role-playing exercises, recreating relationships with abusive parents, with Reed standing in for whatever role is required of him. When Reed is allowed to be a domineering father or a scared child, The Brood is at its best. Away from the retreat, Nola's parents, revealed through her sessions to have regularly beaten her, are being stalked and assaulted by some kind of child-sized creatures. The evidence leads back to Dr. Raglan and his novel use of 'psychoplasmics,' a poorly understood medication that might have very weird side effects.
The eye-grabbing parts of The Brood include the creatures, but the most interesting ideas in Cronenberg's film don't necessarily require the horror aspects. Raglan talks a lot about the festering psychic sores of childhood trauma and the ways they can unpredictably emerge. He believes in ripping off the band-aid, confronting his patients face-to-face with the ugliness in their pasts. The film opens with a patient standing up to his bullying, hyper-masculine father, and continues with Raglan subbing in for Nola's Joan-Crawford-like mother and her uninterested father. It's unclear if these methods are helping, but they're thrilling to watch.
In one of his earlier films, Cronenberg is completely in his element. He films the aforementioned sessions honestly and intensely, keeping up the tension in every scene. The creatures' size and costumes means they can blend into a crowd or be hiding in any small space. When characters walk through an empty house, the end result might be inevitable, but it's still surprising. Cinematographer and frequent collaborator Mark Irwin makes great use of the wintery Canadian landscapes, specifically a haunting long-distance shot of three characters walking down a highway. Aside from Reed, however, the acting is not very noteworthy. Hindle's a boring protagonist and Egger is way over-the-top, culminating in a very weird climax. The other patients are twitchy, which is realistic for the world, but still annoying.
There's plenty of stuff in The Brood to like, but it's ultimately a great-looking horror movie with one memorable performance. There's something here about the effects of childhood trauma and repression, but it gets muffled under beak-nosed creatures in brightly-colored parkas. Cronenberg’s going to crack this specific formula in the future, perhaps with more personal distance from the material. C+
The eye-grabbing parts of The Brood include the creatures, but the most interesting ideas in Cronenberg's film don't necessarily require the horror aspects. Raglan talks a lot about the festering psychic sores of childhood trauma and the ways they can unpredictably emerge. He believes in ripping off the band-aid, confronting his patients face-to-face with the ugliness in their pasts. The film opens with a patient standing up to his bullying, hyper-masculine father, and continues with Raglan subbing in for Nola's Joan-Crawford-like mother and her uninterested father. It's unclear if these methods are helping, but they're thrilling to watch.
In one of his earlier films, Cronenberg is completely in his element. He films the aforementioned sessions honestly and intensely, keeping up the tension in every scene. The creatures' size and costumes means they can blend into a crowd or be hiding in any small space. When characters walk through an empty house, the end result might be inevitable, but it's still surprising. Cinematographer and frequent collaborator Mark Irwin makes great use of the wintery Canadian landscapes, specifically a haunting long-distance shot of three characters walking down a highway. Aside from Reed, however, the acting is not very noteworthy. Hindle's a boring protagonist and Egger is way over-the-top, culminating in a very weird climax. The other patients are twitchy, which is realistic for the world, but still annoying.
There's plenty of stuff in The Brood to like, but it's ultimately a great-looking horror movie with one memorable performance. There's something here about the effects of childhood trauma and repression, but it gets muffled under beak-nosed creatures in brightly-colored parkas. Cronenberg’s going to crack this specific formula in the future, perhaps with more personal distance from the material. C+
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