An adaptation of the William S. Burroughs book, David Cronenberg brings us a muddled, uninviting film with Naked Lunch. Names like Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider, and others, are lost in the mundane, shock-topic nonsense of this movie. We talk about the importance of engaging the audience, and giving them world-building that makes the story have some sense to it. Jim has seen it multiple times since 1991 and has struggled to determine if he likes it or not. Dani needed only one viewing to make her call. Limited distribution and the history of Burroughs’ novel have elevated this to become a cult classic. However, it is not a classic in our cult.
Naked Lunch can be found on Tubi.