The Shrouds (MA) – 119 minutes

A twisted, sexually charged science fiction thriller about death, writer and director David Cronenberg keeps us – the audience – guessing in The Shrouds.

The movie becomes the sum of ever moving parts.

Canadian Karsh Relikh (Vincent Cassel) is still mourning the death of his beloved wife Becca (Diane Kruger) from cancer four years ago.

In an endeavour to be close to her, he has created a unique, modern, high-tech cemetery with digital gravestones, known as GraveTech.

He and the loved ones of others buried there can witness, in high resolution, the body’s decomposition inside shrouds.

With plans to spread the concept globally, nine of the graves are vandalised and the technology is hacked. Karsh is denied access to his own data.

So, who is doing this and why?

Karsh has used Chinese know-how to realise his dream.

But now he turns to a tech nerd who happens to be his former brother-in-law Maury Entrekin (Guy Pearce) for answers.

The dishevelled Entrekin divorced Becca’s sister Terry Gelernt (also played by Kruger) six years ago, but still pines for her.

Meanwhile, it is clear that she, a former vet turned dog groomer, has more than a passing interest in Karsh and he in her, as Terry’s body reminds him of Becca’s.

Another thread involves the blind wife, Soo-Min Szabo (Sandrine Holt), of the dying Hungarian-born head of an automotive technology conglomerate.

He wants to totally finance GraveTech Budapest, while Soo-Min and Karsh begin more than a business relationship.

With references to Icelandic ecoterrorists and Russian muscle, Karsh is none too clear on just what is going on.

He has real concerns about his dead wife’s oncologist, with whom she used to be intimate, while Karsh’s AI avatar (the voice of Kruger) may also be hiding secrets.

The Shrouds sure is a tangled web and even when you get through it there are no ready-made answers.

Having said that, you question what is real and what is imaginary, for there is no doubt that Karsh continues having lucid visions of his dead wife.

Cronenberg wrote The Shrouds while grieving the loss of his wife seven years earlier. So, it became an exploration and an emotional exercise.

There is a lot of chatter (the film is heavy on talk), some voyeuristic sex scenes and body horror.

In a muscular role, Vincent Cassel is earnest as the driven Karsh, while Kruger is enigmatic and alluring in her various guises.

Pearce brings an element of desperation to his portrayal of Maury and Holt crafts an intelligent temptress.

Production values are strong throughout.

I was up for the wild ride, but felt let down by the lack of finality as the film draws to a close.

I would have much preferred a neater ending, given the hoops we are asked to jump through.

Still, The Shrouds is classic Cronenberg (Dead Ringers), whose penchant for the bizarre is well practiced.

Rated MA, it scores a 7 out of 10.