David Cronenberg has always kept his distance from Hollywood. The well-renowned director began his career while exploring his passion for psychological indie genre films and revolutionizing sexual horror in his movies such as “The Brood”. Yet, staying away from the glitz and glamor of Hollywood and producing unique movies on a small budget did not prevent him to grow in success. Rather than moving to Los Angeles, he preferred his native Toronto where he could remain shooting his own kind of movies. He quickly gained the reputation of being ‘the Master of Horror’, with movies even more weird and disturbing that only a selected crowd would watch and truly appreciate. Even when breaking his tradition by putting a foot into Hollywood, Cronenberg …show more content…
It is a satirical drama that criticises the contemporary Hollywood culture by uncovering its deficiencies with incredible performances of its cast. The characters of the movie are a group of psychologically damaged superstars that all rose to fame in one way or the other and try to forget and supress their emotional wounds through Hollywood’s superficiality. Julianne Moore plays one of these characters, Hanna Segrand, who is a middle-aged fading actress, whose career is about to fall apart. In constant career panic, she even auditions for a remake of a movie, starring her mother Clarice, taking her self-esteem to a new low. Then there is the weird celebrity massage therapist Staffort (John Cusack), who helps Hanna Segrand to recover from her psychological wounds. His son, Benjie (Evan Bird), a Justin Bieber like child star who has made a fortune with movies, is being let down by his parents who rather focus on his success than his chemical addiction. Between Havana Segrand and Benjie stands Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), a young troubled woman with a secret connection to Benji, who returns to Hollywood and becomes Havana’s personal assistant and close friend of Jerome (Robert Pattinson). The movie begins with Agatha’s arrival into the city, first making the impression of being an outsider but soon to reveal that she has a history in the