Kristen Stewart has defended her latest film, Crimes of The Future, after its Cannes premiere resulted in walkouts. The David Cronenberg body horror film is the acclaimed director’s first since 2014’s Maps of the Stars and boasts a highly accomplished cast that includes Léa Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen. Despite Cronenberg’s dedicated fanbase and past successes, however, the recent Crimes of the Future premiere at the Cannes Film Festival resulted in a number of audience members walking out.

Cronenberg has always been a filmmaker whose work elicits a variety of reactions from audiences. Never one to shy away from gore or subject matter that some might find uncomfortable, the 79-year-old filmmaker has played a key role in keeping the body horror genre alive. Though his past credits aren’t all filled with macabre horror, there’s always an element of the bizarre in his work, the likes of which is often what makes him controversial. With Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg offers viewers a world in which body transformations and mutations are a form of entertainment for Saul Tenser (Mortensen) and his partner Caprice (Seydoux), who regularly perform surgery on new organs before an audience.

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Unfortunately, Crimes of the Future got off to a bit of a rough start during its Cannes premiere, despite ultimately receiving a six-minute standing ovation. While Cannes audiences are well known for their often finicky nature, the festival’s overall opinion of a film can either send it soaring or permanently ground it. As NME reports, despite the apparent success of Crimes of the Future at the festival, Kristen Stewart recently took the time to discuss the film and its walkouts, defending it from those who felt it was too gory:

“It’s a lot to take on at first, I guess. But to me, the movie is so simply sweet. Yes, we’re barrelling towards certain death, for sure. But there’s a delicacy to the movie that, even in the gory stuff, I was really bewitched by it. Everyone talking about walking out and how intense it was. I was like, ‘It’s not intense! It’s really beautiful.’”

Viggo Mortensen lying inside a science fiction pod in the movie Crimes of the Future

After the film’s premiere, Cronenberg discussed the issue of walkouts, acknowledging that he’d expected it, particularly within the first five minutes. Exactly what it was about those opening scenes (and apparently the film’s final moments as well) that made some people decide they’d had enough is not completely clear, but what is known is that the film contains more than its share of gore. This is to be expected not only from a Cronenberg film, but also from a film that deals in the removal of organs as a form of entertainment. However, as Stewart proves with her recent comments, exactly how Cronenberg’s work causes audiences to react depends entirely on individual opinion. In Stewart’s case what unfolds is beautiful — a reaction that speaks to how divisive Cronenberg’s work still is after so many years.

The real challenge for Crimes of the Future will come with its wide release on June 2. It will certainly be an interesting test for the film, as its apparent gore will likely be enough to draw in horror fans, though its more artistic side — which Stewart praises — might not keep those fans interested. Then again, Cronenberg’s fanbase is well established at this point, meaning that the film’s biggest challenge is bringing in (and keeping) new viewers.

Next: David Cronenberg's Horror Roles: Movies & TV

Source: NME

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