Putting the ‘ride’ back into thrill-ride.

This does occasionally work as a depiction of overwhelming sexual obsession, and a couple of the sex scenes are compellingly sensual, but there are lots of problems with it. For a start there’s the archness of the acting - Deborah Unger delivers even the most innocuous dialogue as if she’s working on a sex chat line - plus there is no sense these obsessives are in any contact with the real world. This is obviously a deliberate choice by Cronenberg but it renders everything inconsequential .

An excellent premise, though as the story develops the “Why is this happening in this way?” factor is off the scale, even by horror movie standards.

The importance of belonging, the importance of structure, the importance of tradition. The hypocrisy of belonging, the hypocrisy of structure, the hypocrisy of tradition.

Brilliantly staged, directed, acted. Mood is expertly judged and so is pace (most of the time: it does drag a little towards the end). The world of the film is totally alien to my own in time and place, but even so we quickly learn and understand its mores, and what is at stake. There are even some very well executed early splatter effects.

All in all this is one of the richest cinema experiences I have had in quite a while.