New David Cronenberg horror movie prompts walk-outs at Cannes

Kristen Stewart in Crimes of the Future
(Image credit: Neon/MK2/Mile End)

Crimes of the Future, the new horror movie from David Cronenberg, has prompted multiple walk-outs during its premiere at Cannes Film Festival. 

"David Cronenberg predicted there'd be Cannes walkouts during CRIMES OF THE FUTURE, and I counted around 15 who exited during the film's first press screening. Maybe walkouts are the new standing ovation!" tweeted New York Times journalist Kyle Buchanan. 

He added: "To be fair, people leave these press screenings all the time if they're not vibing with the film or simply have a scheduling issue, but the ones who fled for the exits definitely did so during notably gross plot developments. Mission accomplished."

Crimes of the Future seems to have split opinions, as the movie also received a six-minute standing ovation. Set in the near future, it stars Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux as a performance artist couple who grow and remove new organs on stage in front of a live audience. Kristen Stewart plays an investigator with the National Organ Registry, who is looking into Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, the disease that allows them to carry out their performance. The movie bears no relation to Cronenberg's 1970 movie of the same name. 

This is Cronenberg's first movie since 2014's Maps to the Stars, a satirical drama starring Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, and Robert Pattinson, and it's his first time returning to the body horror genre since 1999's Existenz. 

Crimes of the Future arrives on the big screen in the US on June 3 and it doesn't currently have a UK release date. While we wait, check out our list of the other upcoming movies to get excited about in 2022 and beyond.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.