David Cronenberg filmography

David Cronenberg at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011

David Cronenberg is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is known as a principal originator of the genre commonly known as body horror, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and the intertwining of the psychological, physical, and technological. Cronenberg is best known for exploring these themes through sci-fi horror films such as Shivers (1975), Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983) and The Fly (1986), though he has also directed dramas, psychological thrillers and gangster films. ^[1]

He also directed the psychological thriller Dead Ringers (1988), the surrealist drama Naked Lunch (1991), erotic thriller Crash (1996), the action thriller A History of Violence (2005), the gangster film Eastern Promises (2007), the erotic historical drama A Dangerous Method (2011), the drama Cosmopolis (2012), the satirical drama Maps to the Stars (2014), and the science fiction horror film Crimes of the Future (2022). Six of his films were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. He is known for frequently collaborating with actor Viggo Mortensen.

Film

Year	Title	Credited as					Notes	Ref(s)
		Director	Writer	Producer	Editor	Other
1969	Stereo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [a]		[2]
1970	Crimes of the Future	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [b]		[2]
1975	Shivers	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		[3]
1977	Rabid	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		[4]
1979	Fast Company	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		[5]
1979	The Brood	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		[6]
1980	Scanners	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		[7]
1983	Videodrome	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		[8]
1983	The Dead Zone	Yes	No	No	No	No	From Stephen King's 1979 novel	[9]
1986	The Fly	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Remake of Kurt Neumann's 1958 film	[10]
1988	Dead Ringers	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No		[11]
1991	Naked Lunch	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Partly adapted from William S. Burroughs's 1959 novel and biographical sources	[12]
1993	M. Butterfly	Yes	No	No	No	No		[13]
1996	Crash	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	From J. G. Ballard's 1973 novel	[14]
1999	Existenz	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No		[15]
2002	Spider	Yes	No	Yes	No	No		[15]
2005	A History of Violence	Yes	No	No	No	No		[15]
2007	Eastern Promises	Yes	No	No	No	No		[15]
2011	A Dangerous Method	Yes	No	No	No	No		[15]
2012	Cosmopolis	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No		[15]
2014	Maps to the Stars	Yes	No	No	No	No		[15]
2022	Crimes of the Future	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		[16]
2024	The Shrouds	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		[17] [18]

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1967	Black Zero	Nude scene	Uncredited	[19]
1975	Shivers	Infected Crowd Member
1983	Videodrome	Max Renn (Helmet Scenes)
1985	Into the Night	Ed's supervisor in the boardroom	Cameo
1986	The Fly	Gynecologist in the dream sequence	Cameo
1988	Dead Ringers	Obstetrician	Uncredited cameo
1990	Nightbreed	Dr. Philip K. Decker
1992	Blue		Directed by Don McKellar	[20]
1994	Trial by Jury	Director		[21]
	Boozecan	Stan Coleburn		[20]
	Henry & Verlin	Doc Fisher
1995	To Die For	Man at the Lake	Cameo
	Blood and Donuts	Crime Boss		[21]
1996	The Stupids	Postal supervisor	Cameo	[21]
	Extreme Measures	Hospital Lawyer
1998	Last Night	Duncan
	The Grace of God	Psychiatrist		[21]
1999	Resurrection	Father Rousell
2002	Jason X	Dr. Wimmer
2010	Barney's Version	O'Malley Director No. 2	Cameo
2020	Disappearance at Clifton Hill	Walter
	Falling	Proctologist
TBA	Ready or Not: Here I Come		Filming

Short films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes	Ref.
1966	Transfer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Also editor and cinematographer	[22]
1967	From the Drain	Yes	Yes	No		[23]
2000	Camera	Yes	Yes	No	Made for the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival's Preludes program	[24]
2007	To Each His Own Cinema (Chacun son cinéma)	Yes	No	No	segment: At the Suicide of the Last Jew in the World in the Last Cinema in the World	[25]
2013	The Nest	Yes	No	No	NSFW short film	[26]
2021	The Death of David Cronenberg	Yes	Yes	No	Co-directed by Caitlin Cronenberg	[27]
2023	Four Unloved Women, Adrift on a Purposeless Sea, Experience the Ecstasy of Dissection	Yes	No	No		[28]

Television

TV films

Year	Title	Credited as					Notes	Ref(s)
		Director	Writer	Producer	Editor	Other
1971	Jim Ritchie Sculptor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [c]	Documentary short	[29] [30]
1971	Letter from Michelangelo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [d]	Documentary short	[29] [31]
1971	Tourettes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [e]	Documentary short	[29] [31]
1972	Don Valley	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [f]	Documentary short	[29] [30]
1972	Fort York	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [g]	Documentary short	[29] [30]
1972	Lakeshore	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [h]	Documentary short	[29] [30]
1972	Winter Garden	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [i]	Documentary short	[29] [30]
1972	Scarborough Bluffs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [j]	Documentary short	[29] [30]
1972	In the Dirt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [k]	Documentary short	[29] [30]

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Episodes	Ref.
1972	Program X	Yes	No	"Secret Weapons" and "Nothing to Declare"	[30]
1976	Peep Show	Yes	No	"The Victim" and "The Lie Chair"	[30]
	Teleplay	Yes	Yes	"The Italian Machine"	[32]
1988	Friday the 13th: The Series	Yes	No	"Faith Healer"	[33]
1991	Scales of Justice	Yes	No	"Regina vs Horvath" and "Regina vs Logan"	[34]

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Note	Ref.
1997	The Newsroom	Himself	Episode "Meltdown: Part 1"
2003	Alias	Dr. Brezzel	2 episodes
2013	Rewind	Benjamin Rourke	TV movie
2017	Pig Goat Banana Cricket	Dr. Cronenbird (Voice)	Episode "The Goofy Turkey Zone"
	Alias Grace	Reverend Verringer	4 episodes	[35]
2020–2024	Star Trek: Discovery	Dr. Kovich / Agent Daniels	Recurring role, 8 episodes	[36]
2021	Slasher	Spencer Galloway	Main Role (Season 4)	[37]

Commercials

Titles	Client	Product	Agency	Production company	Ref.
Hot Showers	Ontario Hydro	Energy conservation	Burghardt Wolowich Crunkhorn	The Partners' Film Company Ltd.	[38]
Laundry
Cleaners
Timers
Bistro	William Neilson Ltd.	Cadbury Caramilk	Scali McCabe, Sloves (Canada) Ltd.		[39]
Surveillance
Transformation	Nike International	Nike Air 180	Wieden and Kennedy		[40]

Notes

1. cinematographer
2. cinematographer
3. cinematographer
4. cinematographer
5. cinematographer
6. cinematographer
7. cinematographer
8. cinematographer
9. cinematographer
10. cinematographer
11. cinematographer

References

1. "David Cronenberg: 10 essential films". British Film Institute. 14 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
2. Rodley 1997, p. 206.
3. Rodley 1997, p. 208.
4. Rodley 1997, p. 211.
5. Rodley 1997, p. 211-212.
6. Rodley 1997, p. 212.
7. Rodley 1997, p. 213.
8. Rodley 1997, p. 213-214.
9. Rodley 1997, p. 214-215.
10. Rodley 1997, p. 215.
11. Rodley 1997, p. 216-217.
12. Rodley 1997, p. 220.
13. Rodley 1997, p. 221.
14. Rodley 1997, p. 221-222.
15. "Hurley C. Goodall obituary". Turner Classic Movies . Archived from the original on June 10, 2024.
16. Gleiberman, Owen (May 23, 2022). "'Crimes of the Future' Review: Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart Star in David Cronenberg's Savage Horror Movie as Metaphor". Variety . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
17. Barraclough, Leo (May 13, 2024). "David Cronenberg's 'The Shrouds' Debuts Teaser Ahead of World Premiere in Cannes Competition (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved May 14, 2024.
18. Gleiberman, Owen (May 20, 2024). "'The Shrouds' Review: David Cronenberg Makes a Movie About Grief — and Body Horror, and Digital Gravestones — That in Its Somber Way Verges on Self-Parody". Variety . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
19. Mathijs 2008, p. 12.
20. Mathijs 2008, p. 199.
21. Mathijs 2008, p. 200.
22. "Transfer". MUBI . Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
23. "From the Drain". MUBI. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
24. "CAMERA Short Film TIFF PRELUDE David Cronenberg: Virtual Exhibition". TIFF Originals. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
25. "To Each His Own Cinema". The Hollywood Reporter . 20 May 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
26. "Watch: David Cronenberg's 9-Minute NSFW Short Film 'The Nest'". IndieWire . 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
27. "The Death of David Cronenberg". MUBI. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
28. "Four Unloved Women, Adrift on a Purposeless Sea, Experience the Ecstasy of Dissection". MUBI. Archived from the original on January 15, 2025. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
29. Rodley 1997, p. 207.
30. Mathijs 2008, p. 277.
31. Mathijs 2008, p. 276.
32. Mathijs 2008, p. 278.
33. Mathijs 2008, p. 280.
34. Mathijs 2008, p. 281.
35. "David Cronenberg Joins Cast of Sarah Polley's 'Alias Grace' Series". IndieWire . 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
36. "David Cronenberg on His Mysterious 'Star Trek: Discovery' Role: 'I Still Haven't Figured Everything Out' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 11 December 2020. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
37. "Legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg on his role in Slasher: Flesh & Blood and his return to directing". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
38. "Cronenberg, David". Senses of Cinema. 18 April 2012. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
39. "Caramilk David Cronenberg". TIFF Originals. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
40. "Classic Commercial: Nike Air 180 Artist's Series". Complex. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.

Works cited

• Mathijs, Ernest (2008). The Cinema of David Cronenberg: From Baron of Blood to Cultural Hero. Wallflower Press. ISBN   9781905674657.
• Rodley, Chris, ed. (1997). Cronenberg on Cronenberg. Faber and Faber. ISBN   0571191371.

External links

• David Cronenberg filmography at IMDb