Like him or hate him, David Cronenberg comes up with some unique film choices. The latest on the dock is Maps To The Stars, that latest in Cronenberg’s ‘limo trilogy,’ which has just begun shooting. Along with that announcement comes a full plot synopsis for the film that stars John Cusack, Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska and Julianne Moore.
Maps To The Stars was written by Bruce Wagner (State of the Union). The film follows the Weiss family, with Stafford (John Cusack) as the life coach/psychotherapist father. His wife is played by Olivia Williams as an overbearing mother micro-managing the life of their teenage son (Evan Bird), a TV star who has just come out of rehab. Meanwhile, their daughter (Wasikowska) has been released from a psychiatric hospital and befriended a limo driver/actor (Pattinson). Nice happy family, huh?
Julianne Moore enters Maps To The Stars as one of Stafford’s celebrity clients. She’s a woman who dreams of reprising her dead mother’s starring role until ‘ghosts, deaths and all manner of vices collide.’
Ooooo. Now that last sentence from the press release is the one that intrigues me. Cronenberg often introduces a hint of the supernatural into his films about human weirdness – take a look at The Fly or Dead Ringers if you don’t believe me. If the impressive nature of the cast was not enough for you, the combination of screwed up families and ghosts (real or figurative) should at least get you into a seat.
David Cronenberg’s past films seem geared to make viewers as uncomfortable as possible, so we can expect the same from this one. Maps To The Stars has an intriguing premise, a stellar cast and a director who never pulls his punches. Get ready to squirm.
Maps To The Stars has begun filming and will likely receive a Cannes premiere in 2014. Sound good?