Major new David Cronenberg season announced at BFI

Today we announce programme details for a major two-month season dedicated to the maestro of body horror, David Cronenberg, whose exploration of the human condition reaches far beyond the purely physical, with his work influencing countless creatives from Nicolas Winding Refn and Guillermo del Toro to Charli xcx and Trent Reznor. 

Programmed by journalist and podcaster Mike Muncer, David Cronenberg: Mind, Body, Reality will take place at BFI Southbank from 1 January to 16 March 2027 and will present more than 20 of the Canadian auteur’s films, programmed thematically across three strands. Furthermore, a collection of David Cronenberg’s films will be available to stream on BFI Player, with titles including The Brood (1979), Naked Lunch (1991) and The Shrouds (2024), while the biggest screen in the UK, BFI IMAX, will welcome audiences to screenings of Crash (1996), The Fly (1986), Videodrome (1983) and Dead Ringers (1988).  

In January, audiences will be able to explore ‘mutated identities’ and ‘diseased realities’ – chilling, challenging films that present bodies in transition, unstable minds and dark visions of the world. The ‘self’ comes into question as bodies mutate in The Brood (1979), parasites take control in Shivers (1975) and identities fracture in Dead Ringers (1988). As his career progressed, Cronenberg leaned into surrealism and heightened realities in Naked Lunch (1991), Spider (2002) and Cosmopolis (2012) to present warped, subjective worlds. Meanwhile, as technology has evolved at a frighteningly rapid pace, his films have consistently explored our relationship with machines; flesh and tech combine in Crimes of the Future (2022), while media warps our perception of worlds in Videodrome (1983) and eXistenZ (1999). With his work, Cronenberg hasn’t just challenged ideas of self and reality, he’s challenged notions of safe and predictable genre filmmaking. 

In February and the first half of March, the season moves to explore ‘bodies in collision’ – the visceral films that pack a punch and deliver guttural thrills. Cronenberg, known as the king of body horror, began his career by making shlocky ‘mad science’ films like Rabid (1977) and The Fly (1986) to examine the human condition. Later, his grittier crime thrillers A History of Violence (2005) and Eastern Promises (2007) brought bodies clashing together in breathtaking bursts of violence to explore masculinity and identity. As a lifelong car enthusiast, Cronenberg scrutinised our fixation with the high-speed, sensual thrills of automobiles in Fast Company (1979) and Crash (1996). Even his period drama A Dangerous Method (2011) observed the way repressed sexuality can physically impact the body, proving that even his less explicit films contain a particular tactility. To be truly ‘Cronenbergian’ is to have brains and guts. 

There will be several contextual events taking place as part of the season, beginning with an Introduction to David Cronenberg for members of the BFI’s 25 and Under scheme. This free talk, taking place on 11 January, will see season curator Mike Muncer unpack the Canadian filmmaker’s extraordinary body of work. It will chart Cronenberg’s journey from cinematic outlier and purveyor of body horror to his position as one of contemporary cinema’s most provocative, intelligent and thrilling filmmakers. 

Mike Muncer’s award-winning podcast The Evolution of Horror will also come to BFI Southbank for a special live recording devoted to David Cronenberg’s cinema on 13 January. Together with filmmaker Prano Bailey-Bond and film critic Jamie Graham, Muncer will discuss Cronenberg’s thematic and stylistic preoccupations, key collaborators and influence on contemporary cinema.  

Following very successful editions in previous seasons dedicated to filmmakers such as David Lynch, David Cronenberg Sip and Paint comes to BFI Southbank on 21 January. Cronenberg and his work have been influenced by a variety of artists, including Andy Warhol and Alex Colville, alongside movements such as pop-art and surrealism. In this relaxed painting session, audiences can take inspiration from the filmmaker’s visual style to create their own masterpiece to take home. Acrylic paint and mini canvases will be provided, alongside a complimentary drink to sip while you paint.  

BFI Southbank’s ongoing Philosophical Screens series will focus on A History of Violence (2005) on 9 February, with our regular panel of film philosophers, Ben Tyrer, Catherine Wheatley and Lucy Bolton, discussing the film through a philosophical lens. With A History of Violence, Cronenberg asks us to consider whether it is possible to escape our past, and what it is to live an apparently civilized life; our film philosophers will examine whether our moral identities are shaped by our actions or inherent propensities, and to what extent we can reinvent ourselves. Finally, for die-hard fans wanting to test their knowledge, there will be a David Cronenberg quiz, hosted by Mike Muncer, on 5 March.  

“Few filmmakers have examined the complexities of the mind and body with the same innovation and audacity as David Cronenberg,” said Muncer. “For over 50 years, the Canadian filmmaker has consistently pushed the envelope of genre filmmaking with confrontational movies that combine pulpy thrills with big, intellectual and philosophical ideas. To watch a David Cronenberg film is to observe a scientific experiment, to look at humanity under a microscope, and we invite audiences to join us in that sweaty, cinematic petri dish at BFI Southbank, experiencing Cronenberg’s extraordinary films on the big screen.”