Look, I really can’t speak to Mia Goth’s character as a person.

I can’t say I think Mia Goth is a nice person or that she always shows sound judgment. I know there is a lawsuit filed against her by one of the actors in MaXXXine. He claims Goth intentionally kicked him in the head after he complained that she was getting too close to his face during reshoots of a scene that required her to jump over his body. The lawsuit alleges that her kick gave him a concussion, then she taunted him afterwards. Then, apparently, he got fired from the set the next day. And considering her marriage Shia LaBeouf- who has had his own series of on set troubles- I have a hard time thinking at least some of the accusations made in the lawsuit aren’t true.

What I can say with certainty is that Mia Goth is one hell of an actress. Perhaps even the best actress of her generation. A great Mia Goth performance is a special thing that can anchor a film and make up for some of its deficiencies.   

And she’s comfortable being R-rated.

Which brings me to Infinity Pool, Brandan Cronenberg’s follow-up to his science-fiction horror thriller Possessor. Honestly, it does not take a genius to realize that both films were made by the same hand. Both films include trippy colourful montages involving deviant, violent sex. Both films include grotesque body imagery. Both films have a weird sci-fi element that makes you hope that if that speculative technology really did exist, that people would put it to better use. Both films deal with human detachment that are further exacerbated by inventions that stick a dagger in the heart of our identity. And both films get some really remarkable performances out of their lead actresses. Like Andrea Riseborough before, Goth is fantastic in this film!

And I know I am making a lot out of Goth’s performance. I probably sound a lot like a fanboy crushing, which I probably am. (Don’t tell my wife.) But I’d wager Cronenberg was equally enamored with the talent he had at his disposal because he practically lets Goth take over the back half of the movie even though Jalil Lespert starts the film playing very well off of her. The potential was there to have two great villainous performances. But the deeper into Infinity Pool you get, the more Cronenberg runs with Goth- even during scenes that include Lespert and the other members of their hedonistic entourage. Just as in Ti West’s X, Goth just kind of takes over the film despite all the other notable names in the cast. (Pearl, on the other hand, actually is Goth’s movie. Though West still directed, she helped to write it. And man, she milks every bit of screen time Pearl for what it’s worth.)

Cronenberg. West. It doesn’t matter. They just present the opportunities for Goth to do her thing. Win-win.

Infinity Pool is set on a resort in the fictional country of Li Tolqa. Guests of the gated resort are warned not venture off property because of safety concerns. Also, the people of Li Toplqa have some very interesting laws involving the death penalty, but more on that later.

James (Alexander Skarsgård), a failed author, and his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman)- whose daddy owns a publishing company- find themselves in a marital rut, bored by their vacation. One morning, they meet Gabi (Mia Goth), who claims to be a huge fan of the only novel James had published and she asks the couple to dine later with her and her husband Alban (Jalil Lespert). The couples hit it off, though there is little doubt that Gabi and Alban are far more adventurous as a couple, and they all agree to get together the next day to explore a beach far from the resort.

The next day, the two couples rent a car and go to the beach. Everyone ends up having drunken fun, with James even getting a handjob from Gabi when they are in private. After it gets dark, Alban says he’s too drunk to drive back to the resort, so James volunteers to drive even though it’s clear he is not in the best of shape himself. 

Wild guess what happens on the drive home? 

James runs over a local. The couples then agree to flee the scene after Gabi and Alban insist that the police in Li Tolqa can’t be trusted. The next day the authorities catch up with James and Em at the resort and bring them to the station.

Turns out, the punishment for manslaughter in Li Tolqa is death at the hands of the first-born son. Harsh. However, if you are rich, you can pay for an exact replica of you, memories and all, to serve the punishment for you. All you have to do is agree to watch.

Wait…what?

Turns out, the people of Li Tolqa are the first country to have perfected cloning and they use the technology to exploit money out of bad tourists. This in turn has created a small amoral, pleasure-seeking sub-culture amongst the affluent tourists who know Li Tolqa’s laws and are willing to continuously feed the county’s coffers.

Cronenberg has little interest exploring the ethics of cloning, preferring to focus more on how this technology and strange legal loop-hole would psycologically warp the minds those with money enough to buy endless clones as replacements for their crimes. This has undoubtedly made Infinity Pool a divisive film since Cronenberg’s characters behave in a manner that best suits his message, which might not sit well with viewers who want characters to react to the unusual situation the way a they might.

Also, the horror in this film leans towards extreme content which will disappoint anybody who is hoping for a lot of gore or scares. I, however, am always a fan of extreme content. I mean, really, how often do we get to see orgies in film?

(On a side note, I’d like to mention that Bradon’s father once made an extremely controversial movie called Crash about people getting off after getting into horrible car crashes. Thematically, a film school student could go to town comparing these two films.)

I do understand anyone who challenge the people who praise Infinity Pool for its intellectual depth. Hell, I even agree with them…to a point. The premise has a lot of intellectual promise that the film leaves untapped, especially if you expect a film that includes cloning as a plot device to do more than simply show human depravity. But Infinity Pool works best when viewed as a satire on the excesses of the rich and the twisted ways poorer nations might try to capitalize on them. James is like a modern day Dorian Gray. He starts the film already corrupted; he is just waiting for a catalyst to set him off. Once he gets a taste for bad behaviour, he finds it just too hard to quit. And the lifestyle Gabi offers is such a change from the monotony he finds himself stuck in with Em.

Which brings me back to Goth. Infinity Pool is worth watching for her performance alone. She gets to be an unhinged mad woman in this film. She plays the kind of person that would kick someone in the head because they complained about their workplace safety and then have the gall to bully them afterwards. Oh yeah…she might have really done that. Can people use method acting as a defense?

God, I hope Mia Goth doesn’t get herself canceled.