For the past few decades, there has been no other director that has been able to make our skin crawl like David Cronenberg. As one of the pioneers of “body horror”, Cronenberg has not only created haunting visuals but asked his audiences important questions about humanity and authoritarianism with movies like The Brood and Videodrome. Not to mention, he is one of the few horror directors that was able to evolve to other genres and not waste ten years of his career with unnecessary sequels that chip away at the dignity and artistry of his original works. Considering the critical success of his most recent return to sci-fi Crimes of the Future, now is the perfect time to revisit this unique director and the movies he has favored around the world.
The following list brings together ten of the best movies that the director has recommended over the years. Read on for a peek at the very best of cinema that caught the eye of a truly visionary filmmaker.
La Strada (1954)
This film introduced the world to the genius that was Federico Fellini so it naturally became an important influence on Cronenberg, who described the film as “the beginning of my entrancement with moviemaking”. La Strada follows Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), a naive young woman who is purchased from her impoverished mother by a cold circus performer Zampano (Anthony Quinn). Spending years with this abusive and emotionally closed-off man, Gelsomina slowly becomes a shell of her former self. Unlike many other signature Fellini films, it lacks a lot of the filmmaker's humor and satire pointing at the absurdities of the modern world. This is a beautiful and tragic story about the corruption of a kind soul, so no wonder Cronenberg responds to it.
You can stream La Strada on HBO Max, The Criterion Channel, and Kanopy.
Hour of the Wolf (1968)
It is quite obvious that any respected filmmaker has to put an Ingmar Bergman film on their list of favorite movies. It’s even more obvious that a respected horror filmmaker has to include Bergman’s only horror film, Hour of the Wolf, which Cronenberg describes as “a beautiful movie; very much a nightmare.” Starring Bergman staples Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann, this disturbing classic tells the story of an artist who is haunted by nightmares from the past. During “the hour of the wolf”, which occurs between midnight and dawn, he tells his wife about his painful memories. This film proved that horror films did not have to be relegated to pulp status and could tell interesting stories with depth, a legacy Cronenberg has continued, taking direct influence in his film, The Fly.
You can stream Hour of the Wolf on The Criterion Channel.
And God Created Woman (1956)
For many younger generations, Cronenberg’s oeuvre has been a kind of “forbidden fruit”, since many of his films like Crash have seen highly limited releases due to their controversial subject material. For young David Cronenberg, Brigitte Bardot, the French New Wave star with whom he was “totally in love”, was just as unattainable and seductive since her movies could only be shown to adults in Toronto. This did not stop Cronenberg from going to New York and seeing Bardot classics like And God Created Woman. Directed by Roger Vadim, this film follows Juliette Hardy (Bardot) as she teases and inflames every man within a 5-mile radius. Though on the outside it looks nothing like a Cronenberg movie, it opened the doors for what could be shown on screen and allowed artists like him to thrive.
You can stream And God Created Woman on HBO Max, The Criterion Channel, The Roku Channel, and Plex.
Rosetta (1999)
When Cronenberg headed the jury of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, he had to decide between films by established, big-name directors like Pedro Almodovar, Jim Jarmusch, and David Lynch. However, it was two brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, who provoked in Cronenberg’s words “the fastest vote for the Palme d’Or ever in the history of Cannes.”
Rosetta follows the stressful life of a young, impulsive girl living with her alcoholic mother. Cronenberg gave these now critical darling directors their first major international film prize and sent a message to filmmakers that you don’t need special effects, plot twists, or even actors to make an affecting and heartbreaking story.
You can stream Rosetta on The Criterion Channel.
Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)
Another Cannes classic, this love story can only be described as a tour-de-force. Blue Is the Warmest Color follows Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos) a young French high school student who embarks on a sexual awakening after she meets and falls hard for Emma (Lea Seydoux). It’s easy to see why Cronenberg eventually cast Seydoux in Crimes of the Future. Of Seydoux, Cronenberg has described her as a “fantastic actress” with “such emotional power” who is astonishing in this “beautiful, sexy, interesting, intense movie.” This film is not for the faint of heart but carries with it a tenderness and sympathy that leaves you floored.
You can stream Blue Is the Warmest Color on AMC+ and Kanopy.
Personal Shopper (2016)
Starring yet another member of the Crimes of the Future cast, Kristen Stewart, this was one of the movies that convinced Cronenberg to hire her. Personal Shopper, by acclaimed French director Olivier Assayas, follows a personal shopper in Paris whose twin brother has recently died from a heart condition they both suffer from. Rather than leave the city and job she has no real attachment to, she stays so she can fulfill the promise she made to her brother that if he died before her, she would try to make contact with his spirit. It’s a supernatural story like no other, aided by the incomparable Kristen Stewart in a performance that is haunting, intimate, and extremely compelling.
You can stream Personal Shopper on AMC+ and Kanopy.
La Haine (1995)
La Haine may be filmed in black and white, but there's nothing old-fashioned or conservative about it. The film follows 24 hours in the lives of three young friends who live in the projects outside Paris dealing with the hospitalization of their friend Abdel, who was gravely injured in police custody. The film did for French society what Do the Right Thing did for America. In a stylistic portrait of one wild and stressful day, we are given a detailed portrait of the anger, hatred, and misery that brews when you are killed by the people who are supposed to protect you. Along with political importance, this film holds personal importance for Cronenberg as it introduced him to the “fantastic emotional depth” and “intellect” of Vincent Cassel, with whom he has worked on several films.
You can stream La Haine on The Criterion Channel.
Raw (2016)
While a lot of press coverage has been dedicated to comparing Cronenberg’s Crash to Julia Ducournau’s Titane, the director has also been an outspoken fan of her previous film Raw, which convinced him that Ducournau was “a really strong talent.” Raw centers on Justine, a young vegetarian woman who enters veterinary school, tries meat for the first time, and soon starts experiencing more dangerous and exotic cravings. Though it’s too early to tell after only two films, Ducournau seems more and more like the heir to Cronenberg’s legacy, stretching the body horror genre to new limits with commentary on feminism, homosexuality, and gender dysphoria.
You can stream Raw on Netflix.
Strange Days (1995)
Kathryn Bigelow may be famous for her work focusing on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Strange Days is arguably a more resonant film. The movie takes place in 1999, during the last days of the old millennium, and follows Lenny (Ralph Fiennes), an ex-cop who now makes a living selling virtual reality experiences recorded from real people’s memories. One day he receives a VR headset that contains the memories of a murderer killing a prostitute. Bigelow delves into issues of violence in pornography, domestic violence, and police brutality, all in a sci-fi setting, and proved to Cronenberg that Fiennes would be perfect for his film Spider.
Strange Days is currently not available on-demand or on streaming. However, the Blu-ray is available to buy on Amazon.
Don’t Look Now (1973)
When Cronenberg himself describes a film as the most frightening one he’s ever seen, you know it’s a must-see. Don’t Look Now begins when husband and wife, Laura (Julie Christie) and John (Donald Sutherland) arrive in Venice while still grieving the untimely death of their young daughter. While there, two sisters surprise them with the revelation that their daughter is trying to contact them. Though this Nicolas Roeg classic is filled with terrifying imagery, it's the psychological examination of grief in a relationship that really sticks with you. This mix of terror and misery has clearly influenced Cronenberg’s work, especially The Brood which contains explicit visual references to this British classic.
You can stream Don’t Look Now on Kanopy and Pluto TV.