Horror | 24 March 2023

Cronenberg's speculative historical work draws inspiration from the anatomical waxworks at the La Specola museum in Florence, Italy. These wax models, traditionally used for medical demonstrations, are given a new perspective in the film. Cronenberg's work reveals the vibrant and surprising aspects of these female wax corpses, which were previously seen as static and serious. As David Cronenberg explains: “The Specola wax figures were created as a teaching tool, capable of revealing the mysteries of the human body to those who could not access … real cadavers held in universities and hospitals. In their attempt to create whole, partially dissected figures, whose body language and facial expression did not show suffering or agony … the sculptors ended up producing living characters apparently overcome by ecstasy. It was this surprising stylistic choice that captured my imagination: what if it was the dissection itself that induced that tension, that almost religious rapture?”