"Infinity Pool" follows James Foster, a struggling writer vacationing with his wife Em at a posh resort in a fictional third-world country. There, he meets Gabi and her husband, Alban. When an illicit trip outside the resort's gates leads to a tragic accident, James is faced with execution; or, as an alternative, the execution of a "double", a clone of himself, whose sacrifice he must bear witness to. What ensues is a rapid psychological downslide into vengeance, self-abasement, and debauchery.

This twisted and imaginative effort from Brandon Cronenberg is sure to divide audiences, though it is not necessarily as overtly arthouse-y as one might expect. The plot setup here is quite familiar, at least at first: Fears and dangers of a third-world criminal justice system loom over the first act, replete with Stalinist prison settings and officers who look like they were pulled straight from the SS. A nervy score and dizzying cinematography plummet the audience toward an "I Know What You Did Last Summer"-esque scenario that warps into something far beyond the familiar trappings of a frivolous slasher movie.

There are voluminous thematic layers here to be unpeeled, and the film descends into a nightmarish scenario in which the protagonist finds himself at the hands of a cultish horde of self-proclaimed "zombies", others who have gone through the same "doubling" as a means of atonement for their crimes. The film forces its audience to contemplate shuddering notions in which one must kill off pieces of themselves, both figuratively and literally, and a masochistic pleasure in doing so emerges amongst Cronenberg's acid-trip visuals. Layered in, perhaps more interestingly, is a pronounced subtext that explores the relationship between the wealthy vacationers and the country's strange justice system, whose loophole offers them quasi-limitless possibilities to engage in crime and debauchery--but at what real cost?

Alexander Skarsgard gives a solid performance here as the downtrodden writer who is doing some "soul-searching" for his belabored second work, while Mia Goth has her hand at what is essentially a classic femme fatale role, delivering an utterly deranged version of the archetype. Cleopatra Coleman stands counterpoint as James's heiress wife, who, unlike him, is deterred by the proverbial flame that he is drawn to like a moth.

Overall, "Infinity Pool" is a nervy and frightening descent through a "nine circles of hell" scenario, shot through with a near-debilitating dose of speculative and science fiction. It is a film that taunts you as much as it makes you think, both to discomforting lengths. If one thing is for certain, an artistic representation of the writer's search for "inspiration" has never looked (or felt) so harrowing. 9/10.

Well Infinity Pool was absolutely demented and came from a mind of Brandon Croenberg he seems truly effed in the head for creating this film; great for horror fans and I loved everything regardless. The imagery belongs in hell! This film is something very odd, trippy, filled with madness, and not for everyone. The Cronenberg's have a common horror weirdness they are fairly brilliant. To me the movie gets praise because it's art despite being ghoulish and bonkers there's a lot to enjoy like the writing is incredible, flow of the story is great, and highly entertaining throughout I especially love the masks used in several scenes. I recommend and hope anyone appreciates my opinions.

First thing I noticed, as it was first in the film, is the haunting effect that the sound has on the overall "vibe". It made those initial beautiful resort scenes have me on the edge of my seat!

The film itself descends into chaos quite quickly, and then goes beyond and beyond it once more. I thoroughly enjoyed the pacing; you think you're past the penultimate drama early on and then you're in for the real treat. Alexander Skarsgard was stellar, as was Mia Goth. They encapsulated their respective craziness in their own unique ways that no others could match.

Overall, the pacing was spectacular. There was nothing slowed down, there are moments punctuated by introspection, but those moments were just as intense in their own way.