Antiviral

Set in a near future where celebrity worship has become a commercial transaction, Antiviral follows Syd March, an employee at a clinic that harvests viruses from famous people and sells the infections to fans who want to share in their idols' suffering. Syd also runs a side business, smuggling samples to outside buyers by carrying the viruses in his own body. When he becomes infected with the germ that killed the superstar Hannah Geist, he turns into a commodity himself, pursued by collectors and devoted followers, and he must work out what happened to her if he hopes to survive.

The film is the feature debut of Canadian writer-director Brandon Cronenberg, who also wrote the screenplay; it precedes Possessor and Infinity Pool in his directing career. Caleb Landry Jones plays Syd, with Sarah Gadon as Hannah Geist, Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Abendroth and supporting turns from Joe Pingue, Sheila McCarthy and Douglas Smith among a credited cast of 32.

Produced by Niv Fichman in Canada, the film had a modest budget of around 4 million dollars. Reception has been mixed: on IMDb it holds a rating of 5.7 from more than fifteen thousand votes, with a comparable 5.9 from a much smaller number of votes on TMDB. A critics' score of 6 out of 10 from 93 reviews places professional assessment a little above the general audience response.