“My Art Is Unique To Me”: Caitlin Cronenberg On Joining Her Family’s Filmmaking Legacy with Her First Feature, ‘Humane’

Caitlin Cronenberg is all too familiar with the term “legacy” – her father is legendary Toronto filmmaker David Cronenberg, the brilliant auteur behind films like Dead Ringers, The Fly, Videodrome and more recently, Crimes of the Future. Meanwhile, her older brother – writer and director Brandon Cronenberg – has found success with his films, which meld horror and science fiction, and her older sister, Cassandra Cronenberg, is also an artist and filmmaker. Now, Caitlin, who turns 40 this year, is getting into the family business with her directorial debut in the upcoming thriller, Humane.

“I don’t know how I fit into this legacy because legacy is such an incredibly strong word,” she said in a recent interview ahead of the world premiere of Humane in Toronto. 

She noted that her father, who is 81, is not only still working, but will premiere his next film, The Shrouds, at the Cannes Film Festival in May.  

“When my dad started making films in the 60s, everything was so different. You could grab a crew of people, grab actors, but everything has changed since then. So when he started, it was a bit easier to be experimental; the world in general was more open and so he really had a lot of runway to set the scene for us,” she explained.

“He has created this body of work that will live on and he was the first to do many kinds of things; he shocked people in a lot of ways. It was exciting watching him fight some of these battles growing up about censorship and things that you can and can’t do in film.”

She admired, she added, how her father always stuck to his artistic vision. “He would sooner say ‘I’m not doing this,’ than do it in a way he didn’t want to do.”

As to how her body of work fits into this familial legacy, Caitlin’s intention is simply that she hopes to create work that people enjoy. She is aware, however, that it won’t be an easy journey. 

“Of course, it’s a hard industry to be part of, but I really hope that my voice fits in with [her father and brother’s] voices in a way that satisfies people who really, truly do believe in this legacy. But at the same time, we’re all individual artists trying to trying to sort of forge our own path.”

She smiles. 

“You know, my dad has some years on us.” 

 

Blazing Her Own Trail

 

Brandon Cronenberg, 44, established himself as a horror filmmaker with his three features – Antiviral, Possessor and Infinity Pool. Caitlin notes that, once he began making films, she “cried tears of joy and pride because everything that he creates, it blows my mind.”  

She points out, though, that her own feature debut, which was written by fellow Torontonian Michael Sparaga, isn’t a straightforward horror. In fact, she’s not even necessarily a horror fan herself. 

“I think that horror has its place. People love horror movies for a reason, but I don’t love horror movies. I am totally scared. I don’t respond well to that kind of film.”

Humane, which hits theatres on April 26, takes place over a single day, mere months after a global ecological collapse has forced world leaders to take extreme measures to reduce the Earth’s population by forcing nations to shed 20 per cent of their own populations. In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman (Peter Gallagher) has invited his grown children (Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Sebastian Chacon, Alanna Bale) to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.

Caitlin refers to Humane as an “elevated thriller.” The film is certainly different from those of her father and brother, but the Cronenberg fingerprints are still visible. It is layered with dark undertones of violence and trauma and Caitlin strikes a visible balance between humour and horror. 

In fact, the filmmaker admits that her favourite genre is thrillers – with a bit of gore and violence tossed in. 

“I love being able to be the person in control of that because when else in your life, can you say, ‘Okay, no, I want the stab wound to be just here, just a little bit longer. No, that’s the correct knife.’ There’s just such fun involved in creating the violence and that kind of thing.”

She added that Sparaga’s script “checked all the boxes for me … It was funnier the first time he sent it to me, we made it a bit darker as a team,” and that the concept is unlike any she’d ever seen before.  

“I think in a world where we’re largely watching a lot of remakes and adaptations and Marvel movies, it’s really fun and difficult to find a unique concept that you really feel excited about.”

 

All in the (Cronenberg) Family 

 

Before her big screen debut, Caitlin Cronenberg enjoyed a 20-year career behind the lens as a celebrity and stills photographer.  She believes that having those two decades under her belt gave her some distance from the world of directing. It was only recently that she had been thinking of moving toward the big screen, and Sparaga’s script “really pushed that right into the forefront of where I wanted to spend my time.”

Caitlin is well aware of the pressures and expectations of another Cronenberg taking a stab at directing, but she never caved to any of it – especially at this age and stage of her career. 

“I think that the pressures come from outside of the world, the pressures come from people who walk in thinking this is going to be a classic horror movie like a Cronenberg movie, like it’s going to be all body horror, it’s going to be this and this,” she explained. “And I knew that that was never what would come out of me. I respect it and I appreciate what my family members are doing. I’m their biggest fan, I think their art is unique to them, but I know that my art is unique to me.”

 

She continued, adding that she never caved to any pressure or expectation of what her movie should be. She also noted that she feels lucky to continue to enjoy such a long career as an artist – and the terms on which she’s achieved it.

Caitlin believes that, had she come straight out of film school and made Humane in her early 20s, she would have felt the pressures of being a filmmaking Cronenberg more acutely. But working as a photographer gave her distance, and that perspective helped her.

I asked whether she picked her father and brother’s brains, or received any notes from them, while making Humane. And while she said there were no notes, it was just “sharing what I’ve done with my family in the same way that they’re happy to share what they’ve made with me. 

“It’s a supportive and unique situation to have a family who understands the ins and outs of what you’re doing … There is a pride that I have that is sort of indescribable when I see them doing what they’re doing, because I know they love it and I love what I’m doing. It’s a gift to be able to work in this industry and to love what you do.”

Caitlin turns 40 in October and is looking forward to this next decade of her life and career and time with her kids, who are a little older and more self-sufficient. 

They just added a puppy to their family, “setting up for a good next decade.”

 

“I have a lot of friends who are turning 50 this year, and who are in their 40s or in their 50s and everybody’s telling me your forties are great. I can really see myself enjoying this next decade of life, having this film as a jumping off point in terms of that direction and my career,” she explained. “I’m not fearful of turning 40. I’m seeing those I love stepping into their 40s with grace and feeling like ‘Alright, we got this. This is going to be a lot of fun.’”

That fun includes the many creative possibilities ahead of her for which, when they arise, she’s ready to jump all in.  

“And of course filmmaking takes time,” Caitlin said. “I really hope to continue shooting and enjoying my photography career as well. But you know, there’s something about it; you get the bug and you want to keep going in. I certainly have the bug so if I’m given the opportunity, I hope to keep going.”

Humane premieres in theatres on Friday, April 26.

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