*Warning! May contain spoilers!*
Infinity Pool, or the more hedonistic, cinematic version of The White Lotus (2021), stars Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth. Directed by Brandon Cronenberg, the story follows a failed author named James (Skarsgard) who goes on vacation with his wife to find inspiration. The couple vacation at an exclusive resort and there, they come across a flirtatious woman named Gabi (Goth), who claims she’s a huge fan of James’ writing. He’s instantly enthralled by her. Gabi convinces James and his wife to leave the resort grounds, even though it’s strictly forbidden. The group partake in a day of overindulgence, gorging on food and alcohol till they’re exhausted and almost immobile.
On their way back to the resort, James gets into a car accident, which leads to the death of a local man. The group are taken to the police station and there, their morality is tested. It’s explained to them that in this country, they have strict policies on murder, even if it was accidental. Murders must be avenged by the victim’s son, however because of James’ access to extreme wealth, they offer him a way out. They can create a clone of James and execute it while James watches.
It’s an interesting concept that shows how the rich can pay their way through any crimes they commit while also questioning how they’d react to witnessing their own execution.
Gabi seduces James into a world full of infidelity and violence, because there are no repercussions for his actions so why not steal or murder?
Gabi introduces James to her group of friends who also partake in a pleasure-seeking lifestyle, and they beg him the question; what if their original selves were executed, and now their living as their clones? Maybe it’s an explanation as to why they’re so amoral to their crimes.
This movie has interesting concepts, and overall I think Cronenberg handled them fine, but I still think the movie had too much going on. There were a lot of gory and weird scenes that seemed to be added in just for shock value. For example there were two racist and anti-semitic scenes in the film that I felt were unnecessary as they added nothing of value to the movies.
Despite this, I think what really did the movie justice was the actors, who are absolutely committed to their roles. Goth commands the screen with her trademark, eccentric acting style while Skarsgard delivers a physically demanding and wonderfully strange performance where he seems to be putting his all into each scene.
The visuals are unsettling yet beautiful, filled with several shots of the camera tilting and spinning around, and colorful and flashy trip sequences.
Overall, I thought the movie was ok. It has a great concept, but underwhelming execution. But Mia Goth fans will love this.
