Justin Chang

If you know what Cronenberg looks like, you'll see that Karsh, played by Vincent Cassel with a silvery shock of hair, resembles the director. Maybe not a dead ringer, but close enough to give you a chill and a bit of a chuckle. That's the thing about the shrouds. It's deeply morbid and sad, but it's also disarmingly funny.

Karsh is the mastermind behind a company called GraveTech, which allows people to monitor the remains of their dead loved ones. Before the body is buried, it's wrapped in a high-tech metal shroud equipped with an MRI-style scanner. And so at any time, with a swipe of your phone, you can watch a feed from the grave of the decomposing body. It's not just on your phone, either.

Karsh is the mastermind behind a company called GraveTech, which allows people to monitor the remains of their dead loved ones. Before the body is buried, it's wrapped in a high-tech metal shroud equipped with an MRI-style scanner. And so at any time, with a swipe of your phone, you can watch a feed from the grave of the decomposing body. It's not just on your phone, either.

Karsh is the mastermind behind a company called GraveTech, which allows people to monitor the remains of their dead loved ones. Before the body is buried, it's wrapped in a high-tech metal shroud equipped with an MRI-style scanner. And so at any time, with a swipe of your phone, you can watch a feed from the grave of the decomposing body. It's not just on your phone, either.

The feed also goes to a screen built into the person's headstone. Karsh himself uses grave tech obsessively, keeping close tabs on his wife Becca's body at all times. This has naturally made it difficult for him to move on. One amusing early scene finds Karsh on a blind date with a woman who heads for the exit the minute she finds out what he does for a living.

The feed also goes to a screen built into the person's headstone. Karsh himself uses grave tech obsessively, keeping close tabs on his wife Becca's body at all times. This has naturally made it difficult for him to move on. One amusing early scene finds Karsh on a blind date with a woman who heads for the exit the minute she finds out what he does for a living.

The feed also goes to a screen built into the person's headstone. Karsh himself uses grave tech obsessively, keeping close tabs on his wife Becca's body at all times. This has naturally made it difficult for him to move on. One amusing early scene finds Karsh on a blind date with a woman who heads for the exit the minute she finds out what he does for a living.

The next day, Karsh is debriefing the date with Becca's sister, Terry, played by Diane Kruger.

The next day, Karsh is debriefing the date with Becca's sister, Terry, played by Diane Kruger.

The next day, Karsh is debriefing the date with Becca's sister, Terry, played by Diane Kruger.

I have my own body. Cronenberg is often described as a master of body horror, a subgenre he helped pioneer with early efforts like The Brood and Scanners, and recently pushed to audacious new extremes with the wondrously icky Crimes of the Future. The label can be misleading, though. Cronenberg's films are even more cerebral than they are visceral.

I have my own body. Cronenberg is often described as a master of body horror, a subgenre he helped pioneer with early efforts like The Brood and Scanners, and recently pushed to audacious new extremes with the wondrously icky Crimes of the Future. The label can be misleading, though. Cronenberg's films are even more cerebral than they are visceral.

I have my own body. Cronenberg is often described as a master of body horror, a subgenre he helped pioneer with early efforts like The Brood and Scanners, and recently pushed to audacious new extremes with the wondrously icky Crimes of the Future. The label can be misleading, though. Cronenberg's films are even more cerebral than they are visceral.

And he's never been purely interested in grotesque for grotesque's sake. The Shrouds is certainly a body horror movie in perhaps the most relatable sense. It's about the physical ravages of illness and death. At various points, Karsh sees Becca, also played by Diane Kruger, in dreamlike flashbacks that reveal exactly what the cancer did to her body.

And he's never been purely interested in grotesque for grotesque's sake. The Shrouds is certainly a body horror movie in perhaps the most relatable sense. It's about the physical ravages of illness and death. At various points, Karsh sees Becca, also played by Diane Kruger, in dreamlike flashbacks that reveal exactly what the cancer did to her body.

And he's never been purely interested in grotesque for grotesque's sake. The Shrouds is certainly a body horror movie in perhaps the most relatable sense. It's about the physical ravages of illness and death. At various points, Karsh sees Becca, also played by Diane Kruger, in dreamlike flashbacks that reveal exactly what the cancer did to her body.

I can't think of a filmmaker besides Cronenberg who could present the body this way, with clinical directness, undimmed desire, and real tenderness. Early on in the film, someone vandalizes the Grave Tech Cemetery, ripping the headstones from their foundations and hacking into the video feeds, for reasons unknown. The Shrouds isn't just a horror movie about corporeal decay.

I can't think of a filmmaker besides Cronenberg who could present the body this way, with clinical directness, undimmed desire, and real tenderness. Early on in the film, someone vandalizes the Grave Tech Cemetery, ripping the headstones from their foundations and hacking into the video feeds, for reasons unknown. The Shrouds isn't just a horror movie about corporeal decay.

I can't think of a filmmaker besides Cronenberg who could present the body this way, with clinical directness, undimmed desire, and real tenderness. Early on in the film, someone vandalizes the Grave Tech Cemetery, ripping the headstones from their foundations and hacking into the video feeds, for reasons unknown. The Shrouds isn't just a horror movie about corporeal decay.

It's a thriller steeped in techno-paranoia. To get to the bottom of the vandalism, Karsh enlists the help of Terry's ex-husband, a computer whiz played by an unnervingly twitchy Guy Pearce. Karsh also relies on an AI personal assistant, voiced by, you guessed it, Kruger again, who doesn't seem entirely trustworthy.