David Cronenberg’s THE FLY as a Love Drama

Falling teeth and nails. Thick pus under the skin and an increasingly deformed, sick body of the protagonist. Vomiting on food and sucking it up with toothless lips. Gradual loss of human traits and detachment from reality. Loneliness, madness, and death. That, in short, is what every viewer remembers from David Cronenberg‘s The Fly. The slow transformation of Seth Brundle was depicted in painstaking detail thanks to top-notch special effects, which earned an Oscar and became the film’s macabre hallmark.

But who remembers what the movie was really about?

From the very first scenes, it’s clear that Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is a passionate visionary. When he talks about his research, he lights up, fully immersed in explaining his work. Since his audience is the attractive journalist Veronica (Geena Davis), his enthusiasm comes across as charming, even flirtatious. He intrigues her enough that she agrees to visit his lab and see what he’s working on. Once there, it turns out that Brundle is working on teleportation and has already achieved partial success. His invention, the “telepods,” can transport inanimate objects, but attempts with living creatures have ended in disaster. Intrigued, Veronica agrees to document Seth’s research, capturing every step on videotape. He encourages her with the words, “I have no private life, so you won’t get in the way.” During their collaboration, the two grow closer.

Seth: “I have no private life, so you won’t get in the way.”

The lovers don’t get to enjoy their relationship for long. Veronica is stalked by Stathis Borans (John Getz) – her jealous ex and boss. Meanwhile, Seth fears rejection. When one of the animals dies during an experiment, a despondent Brundle gets drunk and decides – like scientists who test vaccines on themselves – to try his invention personally. The teleportation appears successful at first, but soon after, he begins to behave strangely. Initially, the energy surge and hyperactivity seem like a boon, but over time, they give way to aggression, and his insatiable sexual appetite becomes overwhelming. After a fight with Veronica, Seth heads to a bar to blow off steam. There, he shows off his newfound strength and returns to the lab with a woman he meets at the bar, whom he sends away after spending the night with her. Day by day, Seth’s health deteriorates. He discovers that a fly entered the telepod with him during teleportation, and their DNA merged. From that moment, Seth starts viewing his physical decline as a kind of cancer. He explains to a distraught Veronica:

“It’s like a form of cancer. Cellular chaos and revolution. I’ll transform into a new form, then I’ll die, and that’ll be the end of it.”

The progressing illness wreaks havoc on Seth’s mind as well. Despite his intellect and knowledge, he cannot reverse the disintegration of his body or halt the transformation. Over time, he shifts from rationality to paranoia. Initially, he is terrified of his condition. As he notices more changes in his body, he becomes increasingly fascinated by them. He collects his fallen teeth, nails, and other body parts that have died off, jokingly calling his medicine cabinet “Seth Brundle’s Museum of Natural History.” He sees these remnants as relics of the old organism being replaced by a new, unknown entity – the “Brundlefly.” The less human he becomes, the more his empathetic and caring traits vanish. When Veronica learns she is pregnant and that Seth is the father, she visits him to tell him, but he is no longer capable of normal communication. He has lost touch with reality and his humanity. This becomes evident when he says to her:

“I am an insect who dreamed he was a man and loved it. But now the dream is over, and the insect is awake. If you stay, I’ll hurt you.”

David Cronenberg’s The Fly is remembered as an intimate horror film with outstanding special effects and makeup. However, these are just part of the film’s essence. At its core, it’s a beautiful and moving love story with a tragic ending. If the horrific transformation in the story were replaced with, say, cancer, The Fly would simply be a drama about a couple where one partner suffers from a terminal illness, slowly dying before the eyes of their beloved. The director himself mentioned in interviews that, because it was a horror film, no one noticed how depressing the story was. No one recognized how much it resembled a theatrical play or an opera (which, incidentally, was created in 2008). By working under the guise of a specific genre, Cronenberg could push boundaries – hence the grotesque effects – and tell the story on his own terms. The result is a blend of romance and body horror where the main focus isn’t on the falling teeth and nails, but on the love between two people torn apart by a terminal illness.