After watching a screener earlier this week, I can confirm: Infinity Pool is a total mindfuck — in the best way possible. Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, the mastermind behind Possessor and Antiviral, this film follows a writer named James (played by Skarsgård), who’s experiencing writer’s block years after the release of his debut novel. A resort vacation on a remote island, paid for by James’s well-to-do wife, Em (played by Cleopatra Coleman), seems to be the perfect solution to spark new inspiration. However, as with all horror movies, nothing at the resort is what it seems. Immediately, the couple crosses paths with Gabi (played by Goth) and a host of other seductive accomplices who take them down a hedonistic rabbit hole that includes murder, the cloning of humans to avoid execution, and a bunch of never-ending orgies. Yeah, as I said, it’s a total mindfuck. I spoke to Mia and Alexander about the project and asked them about their reactions to the provocative script, what it was like filming those R-rated scenes, and what they did to prepare for playing such unnerving characters. Check out what they shared with BuzzFeed ahead.
Warning: Mild spoilers for Infinity Pool ahead. Alexander Skarsgård: Disappointment? Yeah, yeah, pretty much. I get that a lot. [Laughs] Mia Goth: No, no, no, no. When I first met Alex, I thought, Hmm. Such a gentleman. That’s what I thought to myself. He’s conducted himself in a really sweet and generous way, and he was lovely with the hair and makeup team. We met in the makeup department. So yeah, just a really nice guy. And then we got to know each other while working and I just thought he was incredibly talented and extremely hardworking. Very present on set and always trying to make the scene better, and trying to push it to another level. Really just a wonderful scene partner. Alexander Skarsgård: My first impression was, This is brilliant casting. Because Gabi is such a crazy, wild, sometimes dangerous, and scary character. And Mia is so sweet and so lovely. I thought that contrast was a really interesting segue out. Yeah, that was my first impression. I was like, Oh, this is amazing. This going to be such an interesting and exciting experience. AS: I put on a leather dog collar and ran around East Village in New York City naked because I do that in the film. So that was my prep. I ran around on all fours, obviously, like a dog. [Laughs] AS: I think that in terms of changes, not really changing but more exploration was the physical aspect. I agree with Mia; the scripted dialogue was so tight and so good that there was really no need to riff or change it or improvise. It was very concise. But then when we got into the more the physical aspect, obviously, of the cloning process and the big fight scenes, that’s where we used the script more as a blueprint on the day of filming and just discovered how far we could push it; how far we could take it, and try those scenes in different directions to kind of surprise ourselves, and see what would happen. AS: It was two months of abuse. [Both laugh] Once we got into it, it doesn’t sound very fun because it was like, ‘Oh, just another day at the office.’ I love that sequence and the way it ties in with the music. It’s so evocative, and I really love it. But it was incredibly technical shooting it because Brandon and Karim work a lot with different lights and different effects that they want to do in-camera. They had weird mirrored boxes that they wanted us to go into because that would create interesting reflections and different strobing lights at different colors. And then they would have different filters in front of the camera. It felt very fun and very playful, and quite endearing to watch Karim and Brandon behind the camera like two little boys playing with Lego, to be so excited about all their gadgets that they were trying out. MG: I was only there for a segment of those scenes. But I agree, I’ve never experienced anything like that. The fact that it was all done on set, none of it was doctored up in post. Just really cool to witness Brandon and then everyone else working together and being so excited and inspired by the work. I was talking to Brandon about it yesterday. In the origin sequence, they already had the score. He loved it so much that he didn’t want to truncate it and change the score. He didn’t want to shorten it so instead, they found other footage that wasn’t necessarily as graphic. But again, we’re talking maybe two, three seconds, if even that. Ultimately, he felt very happy about the new footage. Sometimes directors feel like they have to compromise a bit too much, and the movie that they’re releasing is not their version of it. This is not my words, it’s Brandon’s. He feels very proud of the R-rated version, and people won’t miss out on a lot of great stuff if they can’t see the NC-17 version. It’s still very graphic, it’s a lot of body horror stuff. And it’s a brand-new Cronenberg movie. So, of course, it’s gonna be graphic and provocative. MG: Yes, I was talking to a woman last night who had just come out of a screening. She was clearly quite shaken up. We were having a conversation about the film and then she just kind of stumbled and tripped over a plant pot and actually fell to the ground because the film had had such an effect on her that she couldn’t stand up. Other than that, they’re quite different. But it’s really fun and a real gift to be able to play these women who are so messy and complicated. I was shooting Pearl while I was reading the script for Infinity Pool. It did occur to me, like, ‘Oh, that’s a pretty wild sequence of events [in the script].’ I was really enjoying what I was doing in Pearl, so I thought if I have the chance to continue exploring these kinds of characters, I’m going to jump at the opportunity. AS: Yes, I felt exactly the same way. It’s quite rare to read something that is totally so unique, and not derivative of some version of the same movie that you’ve seen 45 times. I was ecstatic. It’s so refreshing to read something that is as bold and crazy as Infinity Pool. I was thrilled from the very first page of it. BuzzFeed: Can you share what the gifts are? AS: In the movie, the first time James sees the clone of himself is when the clone is in that red, kind of gooey, shiny gel thing or whatever it is. They took that and framed it and made another version of Mia’s face and framed it in that same red goo and presented it to us. So we both have clones now. [Laughs]
