The Luxury Antiviral

With Brandon Cronenberg's more recent films getting lavished with all kinds of fancy, 4k editions, it's nice that Severin has seen fit to go back and give the same treatment to his 2012 debut, Antiviral, which I still hold this out as his best work  With it's creative and genuinely insightful science fiction take, and first class execution, it was the film that suggested this nepo baby might actually be the successor capable of picking up the ball his father had seemingly dropped when he moved into more milquetoast drama.  The concept, the look, the performances (Caleb Landry Jones really goes for it), the score... every element really comes together; it instantly turned by from a skeptic to a convert.  So a fancy, new 3-disc limited edition?  Hell yeah!

IFC originally released Antiviral as a new release on separate DVD and blu-ray releases in 2013.  They've been the sole, go-to discs in the US until now.  Severin has issued a new, limited edition 4k 3-disc set, consisting of a brand new 4k scan of a 35mm protection internegative on UHD, that same transfer on 1080p BD, and a second BD including an earlier cut from its Cannes premiere.  Cronenberg tells us in the intro to the Cannes cut that "it's not better version or the director's cut, but it is a part of the film's history that was lost until now."  It's mostly the same as the final theatrical cut, but with the deleted scenes back in, and a few other minor alterations, satisfactorily concluding a subplot for a secondary character.  A standard edition has already been announced for March, but it will just be a 2-disc set, without the Cannes cut.

a scene only in the Cannes cut

So this is an interesting one.  For starters, Antiviral was shot digitally in 2k, so why are we getting a 4k scan of a 35mm protection internegative?  Isn't that just going a generation further removed?  Fortunately Cronenberg and his DP, Karim Hussain, are on hand in the special features to explain.  And it basically boils down to the limits of the color timing at the time of release - particularly in the subtle variations of white - where they had to time it differently for DCP screenings and for film prints.  This new transfer's HDR allows them to essentially merge the best of both worlds.  But this should temper your expectations for any gains in resolution with the 4k.  And it should also be pointed out that the Cannes cut included on the 3rd disc utilizes the digital transfer for anyone who would still prefer that version over the new film scan.  So let's get into it.

1) 2013 IFC DVD; 2) 2013 IFC BD; 3) 2024 Severin BD;
4) 2024 Severin UHD; 5) 2024 Severin (Cannes cut) BD.

An unexpected change right off the bat, we've gone from the IFC discs being 1.85:1 to the Severin discs (all transfers) are now 1.78:1.  That sounds like a small step backwards, but seeing how heavily involved Cronenberg Hussain seem to have been with the new restoration, I guess 1.78 is how they prefer it.  The difference amounts to a little more picture along the top and bottom of the newer transfer rather than anything extra along the sides of the old ones.  And another surprise?  IFC's DVD is interlaced.  That's pretty unusual for an HD-concurrent release that modern.  Thankfully their BD is not similarly affected, but that means there's a bigger jump in quality between the two IFC discs besides the fundamental distinction between standard and high definition.

Severin's new transfer naturally adds a layer of grain to the image that the IFC discs lack, because it's the only one taken from film.  That grain is still surprisingly soft, even on the UHD, but I guess that's no great loss since it kinda doesn't belong there anyway.  Severin's Cannes cut, naturally, does not have this grain element, and some purists will be glad to have it for that reason.  Zooming in super close to all of these reveals practically no discernible distinction in actual detail from the original picture in any of these transfers (except, of course, in the DVD, which is naturally cloudier).  But it should be noted that the UHD is able to retain imagery that all the other discs crush out in the shadows, evident in the second set of shots.  In summary, I'd say the UHD does have the generally best transfer, but it's a distinction most viewers wouldn't even notice.  And some sticklers might still prefer the IFC blu for not adding the... not fake, but extraneous grain, and maybe even for keeping the traditional theatrical AR.

Antiviral started life with a 5.1 mix, and it's on every disc.  The DVD is lossy, whereas all the blus and UHD present the film in DTS-HD.  Severin also adds a stereo mix, also in DTS-HD.  Every release also includes optional English subtitles, with IFC also throwing in Spanish ones.

In terms of special features, IFC was already satisfactorily decked out.  It has a pretty great audio commentary by Cronenberg and Hussain, which occasionally gets a little silly and immature (I recommend switching it off before their original "I want to snort your nail clippings" song over the closing credits), but is 99% very illuminating.  And then there's a terrific, half-hour making of documentary, comprised of interviews with the cast and crew and on-set footage.  There's also just over five minutes of interesting deleted scenes, with optional commentary by Cronenberg.  And there are a handful of 2-3 minute featurettes, which are pretty skippable, since they're mostly cut from the same footage used in the doc.  There may be one or two brief soundbites that are unique to them, but it's not worth sifting through.  Finally, there's the trailer and a couple bonus trailers.  Oh, and some brief test footage from their infrared cameras, used in some background shots.

Broken Tulips

Severin carries all of that over, and they add some great new stuff.  There's a new on-camera interview with Cronenberg and Hussain, which is described as them discussing the new restoration.  And they do for the first couple minutes, but then they go on to talk about the film in plenty more retrospective aspects.  And they include the short film Cronenberg made to sell this film to investors called Broken Tulips (also in 1.78).  Cronenberg and Hussain have also recorded a new introduction for the Cannes cut, though that and the infrared test footage are only on the 3-disc version.  Also exclusive to the 3-disc set is the fancy slipcover, a 30-page booklet by author Claire Donner.

I called The Mask of Satan the gem of Severin's latest Black Friday releases, but that doesn't mean it's the only one worth getting.  This is a top shelf release of an underrated classic.  Although, with that said, anyone who doesn't consider themselves an extreme fan may be content with the original IFC release, since the new transfer and additional bells & whistles aren't that far beyond what we've already got.  This is the premium, luxury edition for those who've got to have the very best.  Everyone else may be happy to save a few - or more than a few - bucks and splurge elsewhere.