In David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis, a billionaire's world disintegrates within a luxury stretch limousine
In short: Trapped in a Manhattan traffic jam, a twenty-eight-year-old currency speculator watches his fortune vanish as his life unravels. Based on Don DeLillo's novel, this 2012 drama explores the isolation of the ultra-wealthy, featuring a central performance by Robert Pattinson that critics described as both frigid and volcanic.
Directed by David Cronenberg, Cosmopolis marks his first screenplay since 1999's eXistenZ. The film follows Eric Packer, a billionaire who traverses Manhattan in a high-tech limousine while his financial empire collapses due to disastrous currency speculation. As he moves toward a barber shop, he encounters various figures who engage him in abstract discussions about life, while anti-capitalist protesters haunt the streets outside, brandishing dead rats and invoking the language of The Communist Manifesto.
The narrative is defined by a sense of detachment. While Packer remains hermetically sealed inside his vehicle, his internal and external worlds begin to fracture. He faces a medical diagnosis of an asymmetrical prostate, which his former employee, Richard Sheets, later interprets as a metaphor for the flaws in Packer's obsession with perfect market symmetry. The film's atmosphere is bolstered by a score from Howard Shore, featuring collaborations with the band Metric and rapper K'naan, emphasizing the film's cold, intellectual tone.
Upon its 2012 release, the film polarized critics. Some, like Justin Chang and Robbie Collin, praised its precise direction and Pattinson's performance, while others, including Todd McCarthy, found it lifeless and stagey. Despite a poor box office performance, it earned critical acclaim from publications like Cahiers du Cinéma and Sight & Sound, which ranked it among the year's best. Roger Ebert acknowledged Cronenberg's mastery while noting a persistent coldness in the work, leaving the audience to grapple with a protagonist whose ultimate fate remains ambiguous.
Opens the Intellect+ feed with this card first. Swipe up for the next one.
Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Cosmopolis (film)
To cite this card, link to https://intellectplus.co.uk/app/entertainment-cosmopolis-film.
How we source, check and correct cards: Editorial standards.
General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.
Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?
Related
More in Films · More in Entertainment · Latest · A–Z · All topics
