Cronenberg's first self-reflexive satire is a welcome return to his
quasi-horror best. Jennifer Jason Leigh is Allegra Geller,
programmer of new game eXistenZ in a near future where game programmers
are worshipped by legions of gamers. But this new game gets her targeted
for execution and only Ted Pikul (Law) is on hand to help. Cronenberg
beautifully riffs off his stock tropes of biological mutations and
industrial machinations, his first original screenplay in a decade
successfully negotiating virtual reality issues and science fiction
conventions. Darkly funny and intellectually spiky.
