David Cronenberg's new short film, shot on a GoPro in one continuous take, is certainly NSFW, but depending on your distaste for insects, may also be NSFL. The film is pure Cronenberg, and it's clear that things are a little off right from the get-go as a shirtless woman is being examined by a less-than-trustworthy surgeon who is recording the entire consultation with a camera strapped to his head. (Just as a warning, the thumbnail of the video itself is also NSFW).

The film is part of a David Cronenberg retrospective that is being put together by the EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam:


From 22 June through 14 September 2014, IFFR's friends at EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam present a major exhibition focusing on director David Cronenberg, who acquired cult status with his idiosyncratic films about the relationship between body, mind, technology and mass media. In 1990, IFFR dedicated a retrospective to this Canadian filmmaker.

David Cronenberg - The Exhibition explores Cronenberg's world through the main themes of his films: the physical and psychological transformation of his protagonists.

His short The Nest was commissioned for the exhibition and is now available online for the first time. Through the point of view of a doctor (voiced by Cronenberg himself), a woman (Evelyne Brochu) who has made the request for a very unorthodox breast operation is interviewed. Could the rough-looking operating room actually be Cronenberg's garage?

Please note that The Nest will only be available on the IFFR YouTube channel for the duration of the exhibition until September 14.

If you've seen any of his other works, thematically The Nest fits right in. His use of the GoPro in a single take is an interesting touch and it definitely adds to the uncomfortable nature of the short, as if we, the audience, are part of the examination and are also complicit in what is likely an unnecessary procedure for the young woman. It may just be me, but the blinking electric car charger just behind the woman makes the whole thing feel just a little bit more unsettling.

To read more about the Cronenberg exhibition, head on over to the website here.

Link: David Cronenberg -- The Exhibition