A new film from frequent collaborators David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen may not be able to retain some theatergoers.

Variety's film festival predictions reveal Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The film is described as a sci-fi thriller "set in a not-so-distant future where humans have evolved beyond their natural state." Insiders reportedly called it the director's "most divisive and sultry film" and to "expect walk-outs in the last quarter of the film."

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Crimes of the Future sees Cronenberg's work on the big screen for the first time since 2014's Maps to the Stars. It also marks the director's first collaboration with Mortensen in more than 10 years. The two worked together on several films in the 2000s and 2010s, including A History of Violence, Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method.

Cronenberg is no stranger to making material shocking to some viewers. The director's early work -- like 1975's Shivers and 1986's The Fly -- helped establish the body horror genre and explored visceral elements of bodily transformation, infection and technology through a sci-fi lens. His 1997 film Crash reportedly led to "boos and walkouts" at the very same film festival where Crimes of the Future is set to make its debut. Cronenberg recalled at the time, "There was a woman in the audience who never stopped saying, 'Oh my God.'"

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Not much is known about Crimes of the Future's plot, but Mortensen said in 2021, "...Without giving the story away, [Cronenberg]'s going maybe a little bit back to his origins." Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Scott Speedman, Welket Bungué and Don McKellar star alongside Mortensen in the upcoming film.

Crimes of the Future does not yet have a wide release date, but lucky moviegoers can see it at the Cannes Film Festival from May 17-28 in France. Fans of Mortensen can catch the actor next in the survival drama Thirteen Lives alongside Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton. Directed by Ron Howard, the film arrives in theaters on Nov. 18.

Source: Variety