David Cronenberg has just finished shooting his much-awaited return to the horror genre, The Shrouds, Collider is reporting. The renowned Canadian screenwriter-director completed production on the upcoming thriller just a few weeks after the feature began principal photography in Toronto.
Cronenberg, who’s credited with spearheading the modern body horror genre, reunited with actor Vincent Cassel, who stars in The Shrouds‘ lead role. The César Award-winning French actor plays the protagonist, Karsh, in their latest film together.
Deadline has shared the following synopsis for The Shrouds:
Karsh, an innovative businessman and grieving widower, builds a novel device to connect the living with the dead inside a burial shroud. This burial tool installed at his own state-of-the-art – though controversial – cemetery, which allows him and his clients to watch their specific departed loved one decompose in real time.
Karsh’s revolutionary business is on the verge of breaking into the international mainstream when several graves within his cemetery are vandalized and nearly destroyed, including that of his wife. While he struggles to uncover a clear motive for the attack, the mystery of who wrought this havoc, and why, drive him to reevaluate his business, marriage and fidelity to his late wife’s memory, as well as push him to new beginnings.
The Shrouds is the latest addition to Cronenberg’s extensive body of genre work. He previously found notable success scribing and helming The Fly. Over the past two decades, he also garnered acclaim for directing A History of Violence, Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method, all of which also starred Cassel.
In addition to Cassel, who also previously garnered fame in the U.S. for starring in the Oscar-winning 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan, The Shrouds also stars Guy Pearce. The actors are also joined on screen by Diane Kruger, who replaced French actress Léa Seydoux.
Kruger is playing three roles in Cronenberg’s latest drama. In a recent interview with So Film (via World of Reel), the SAG Award-winning German actress revealed that she’s playing the multiple parts, including Karsh’s wife’s, the wife’s sister and an avatar personal assistant.
Despite principal photography on The Shrouds having already been complete, the drama doesn’t yet have an official distribution date. A trailer also hasn’t yet been released for the movie.