Those familiar with David Cronenberg’s previous filmography will be unsurprised that his latest film is filled with horror, thrills and twisted psyches. However, MAPS TO THE STARS adds something extra to his usual mix: comedy. In true Cronenberg style, the humour is extraordinarily dark, edging on the uncomfortable so, which the Canadian does so well.

MAPS TO THE STARS offers the darker side of Hollywood, a critical look at the politics behind
Tinseltown, revealing the fake smiles, and exposing the insobriety, cronyism, and deathly deceptions. Julianne Moore appears as Havana Segrand, an actress obsessed with playing the mirror role in a remake her now deceased mother played in its original to great acclaim. This is all despite suffering from hateful and aggressive hallucinations of her mother, calling her out on the hypocrisy of her obsession: “You hate me, but yet you’re desperate to be me! You want that role but you’re not going to get it.” Moore does not disappoint in this complicated role, balancing the spoiled Hollywood starlet with psychotic desperation perfectly.

Cronenberg’s love for examining human psyche is overwhelmingly present in MAPS TO THE STARS with every character scrutinized. Cronenberg weaves his way through this twisted tale in a way so cunning that on each repeat viewing it becomes more and more impressive; each scene is complimentary to the one before, slowly revealing how impossibly interconnected all of the characters are.

As a direct comparison to Havana, there is Benjie Weiss (Evan Bird), a stereotypical Hollywood, arrogant child-star who thinks he knows more about the world and his position in it than those around him. He is celebrating nearly ninety days sober at only thirteen, and similarly to Havana, Benjie is also experiencing hallucinations of the dead.

Cronenberg’s love for examining human psyche is overwhelmingly present in MAPS TO THE STARS

The comparison of the two characters is such that MAPS TO THE STARS shifts easily from scene to scene: Benjie speaking with his therapist about his psychosis, to Havana having her unique massage-based therapy with her own counselor who just happens to be Benjie’s father.

Mia Wasikowska has displayed in her recent films that she is an actress to watch. She is mesmerizing in this film as Agatha, a burn victim on her way to Hollywood to visit family. Along the way she lands herself the job of Havana Segrand’s personal assistant – or as Havana refers to her: a ‘chore whore’. She quickly becomes the most compelling and mystifying character of all as her entire personality and vulnerabilities are laid out on display.

MAPS TO THE STARS takes the first fifteen minutes to pick up some steam but then furies towards an ending that is hard to see coming. The characters are crashed into one another, their stereotypical Hollywood personalities and obsessions clashing and sparking, while the audience can only look on in awe at the fire left in the wake.

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