Is The Shrouds based on a true story? Explained

David Cronenberg, director of The Fly and Eastern Promises, is back with another horror thriller film called The Shrouds. The movie is set to be released in theaters in the US on April 25, 2025 and across France on April 30. It follows the story of Karsh, a businessman and entrepreneur who lost his wife Becca to cancer. His business, GraveTech, involves attaching screens to graves so that the living can watch a live stream of the dead's decomposing bodies. The movie takes a turn when the graves at the cemetery are vandalized, and the film kicks into a story of paranoia and conspiracy. The film features cast members including Diane Kruger, Vincent Cassel, Guy Pearce, and Sandrine Holt.

As for whether The Shrouds is based on a true story, the answer is no. The story is fictional. However, while the story is fictional, in an interview with Variety published on May 17, 2024, Cronenberg shared that the film is "partly inspired" by the death of his wife.

"It was partly inspired by the death of my wife in 2017. We had been together for 43 years. Really, all my movies are personal in some way or another, even a movie like A Dangerous Method, for example, which wouldn’t seem very obvious," he explained.

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David Cronenberg on making The Shrouds

70th San Sebastian International Film Festival (Image via Getty)

In the interview, when asked if making the movie was part of his grieving process, he replied:

"I don’t really think of art as therapy. I don’t think it works that way. If you’re an artist, everything you make, you work out of your life experience, no matter what that is. Whether you’re rehashing something from your distant past or your present circumstances, there’s always creative energy that can be mined from your life."

He further went on to explain how grief lasts forever and doesn't really go away. One can distance oneself from it, however, he didn't experience any catharsis in making the film.

When asked when Cronenberg came up with the idea for The Shrouds, he replied:

"It was pre-pandemic. I went to L.A. to pitch it to Netflix. At that point it was a well-formed idea, but it wasn’t a script yet."

Cronenberg came up with the prototype for what was initially supposed to be a series, and wrote the script for two episodes, however, Netflix decided not to go forward with it for many reasons. However, the idea did eventually give rise to a movie.

"What they fell in love with in some way was me, which is flattering. They asked me in the room that day, where did this idea come from, and I said: “How dark do you want to go?” I guess they thought it was going to be a very intimate and personal grief movie. I never saw it as being just that — it’s a huge element of it, of course. But it wouldn’t have interested me if that was the only thing it’s about," he explained.

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Characters and cast of The Shrouds

Diane Kruger plays the dual role of twin sisters Becca and Terry, while Vincent Cassel takes up the lead role of Karsh.

Mentioned below is the full list of cast members who appear in The Shrouds:

• Vincent Cassel as Karsh
• Diane Kruger as Becca Relikh / Terry Gelern / Hunny
• Guy Pearce as Maury
• Sandrine Holt as Soo-Min Szabo
• Elizabeth Saunders as Gray Foner
• Jennifer Dale as Myrna Slotnik
• Eric Weinthal as Dr. Hofstra
• Jeff Yung as Dr. Rory Zhao
• Ingvar Sigurdsson as Elvar
• Vieslav Krystyan as Karoly Szabo
• Matt Willis as Muscle
• Steve Switzman as Dr. Jerry Eckler
• Victoria Fodor as Restaurant Hostess
• Jill Niedoba as Private Plane Hostess

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The Shrouds hits theaters in the US on April 25, 2025.