Naked Lunch

„Nothing is true, everything is permitted” – with this quote from Hassan-i Sabbah, David Cronenberg opens his film adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novel – written by the iconic beatnik known for his drug-fueled experiments. The godfather of body horror fully embraces the hallucinatory atmosphere of Burroughs’ writing, creating a Kafkaesque vision centered on exterminator Bill Lee (played by Peter Weller), who dreams of writing a novel. One day, during a game of „William Tell,” he accidentally kills his wife – a direct reference to a real-life incident from Burroughs’ own biography. Bill’s mental escape leads him into an interzone inspired by the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he’s tasked with writing a mysterious report. The film blends distorted film noir aesthetics, the organic grotesqueness of Cronenberg’s signature imagery, and a free jazz score composed by Howard Shore. Together, they form a vivid metaphor for both a bad trip and the creative process, where inspiration and paranoia are two sides of the same self-destructive coin.

Joanna Najbor

David Cronenberg (born 1943) is a Canadian director and screenwriter, known as a pioneer of body horror, exploring the limits of the body and mind. In the 1980s, he gained recognition with Videodrome (1983) and The Fly (1986). He later turned to psychological thrillers such as Crash (1996) and A History of Violence (2005). In 2022, he returned to body horror with Crimes of the Future, while his latest film, The Shrouds (2024), blends grief, technology, and mystery