Crimes of the Future (2022) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The National Organ Registry is a government body that regulates human evolution and organ transplantation in this dystopian future. It represents the bureaucratic oversight of a world where biotechnology has drastically altered human physiology, managing the legal and medical framework surrounding synthetic biological changes.

• government
• organ registry
• regulation
• biotechnology
• future bureaucracy

The underground cell is a hidden meeting place for radical evolutionists who resist societal norms and embrace unregulated biological transformations. It serves as a counterpoint to the National Organ Registry, representing the rebellious side of a world grappling with synthetic human evolution.

• underground
• radical evolutionists
• rebellion
• resistance
• hidden location

Crimes of the Future is set in an undetermined future marked by extreme advancements in biotechnology. In this era, the absence of pain and disease has transformed society's views on surgery and intimacy, creating a culture where bodily transformation intertwines with art.

• future
• biotechnology
• no pain
• dystopia
• time period

In this future, the elimination of pain and disease has fundamentally changed human society. Surgery has become a normalized form of artistic expression and intimacy, with the line between medical procedure and pleasure becoming increasingly blurred. This has created a culture that grapples with new ethical questions about the body and human connection.

• no pain
• disease free
• society
• surgery
• intimacy

The film explores how performance art reaches shocking extremes through live surgeries, with Saul Tenser using his body, which continually generates new organs, as a medium for provocative art. This theme challenges traditional notions of pain, intimacy, and the ethical boundaries of altering one's body for artistic expression.

• performance art
• live surgery
• body horror
• art expression
• Saul Tenser

Crimes of the Future examines how radical biological changes force individuals to grapple with their identities. Characters confront what it means to be human when the natural order is disrupted by synthetic evolution, blending desire and horror in the quest for new forms of identity.

• human evolution
• identity
• synthetic biology
• what is human
• natural order

Saul Tenser is a performance artist in a body that continually generates new organs, forcing him to live with constant physical transformation. He uses his condition as a medium for provocative art, exploring themes of pain, intimacy, and human existence while seeking deeper connections despite his struggles.

• Saul Tenser
• performance artist
• new organs
• artistic expression
• Viggo Mortensen

Caprice is Saul Tenser's partner and collaborator who performs surgeries on him during their performances. She navigates the complex intersection of care and artistic ambition, embodying the struggle between love and the eerie allure of their transgressive artistic expressions involving body horror.

• Caprice
• Saul's partner
• surgeon
• collaborator
• Léa Seydoux

Timlin is a bureaucrat at the National Organ Registry who becomes entranced by Saul's performances. She represents the clash between regulation and revolutionary biological ideas, grappling with her obsession with Saul and her provocative realization that 'surgery is the new sex.'

• Timlin
• National Organ Registry
• bureaucrat
• obsession
• Kristen Stewart

Lang Dotrice is a character deeply affected by events surrounding his son Brecken. He embodies the emotional turmoil of loss and the struggle against a system that dictates the norms of evolution, experiencing both paternal instinct and the pain of witnessing grotesque realities in a transformed world.

• Lang Dotrice
• father
• Brecken
• grief
• loss

Synthetic evolution refers to the film's concept of human bodies undergoing artificial biological changes that deviate from natural evolution. This includes the spontaneous generation of new organs and radical bodily transformations enabled by advanced biotechnology, raising questions about humanity's future direction.

• synthetic evolution
• biological change
• new organs
• biotechnology
• transformation

The film carries a bittersweet note as Saul ultimately accepts his new reality and the consequences of his transformed body. While the overall tone is dark and bleak, focusing on the loss of human biology, this acceptance represents a form of peace amid the transgressive and somber atmosphere.

• acceptance
• ending
• bittersweet
• Saul
• new reality