Synopsis
Disguised as an educational film. Stereo purports to be a report on the "Canadian Academy of Erotic Inquiry's" experiments to induce telepathy in eight experimental subjects. It follows the effects of the experiment using the theoretical framework of the parapsychologist Luther Stringfellow. The film is virtually silent except for commentary by the experimenters.
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Recommendations
- 60
TV Guide Magazine
The first film by director David Cronenberg, the black and white, hour-long feature Stereo is more self-consciously avant-garde, and less visceral, than his later work. Nevertheless, many of the usual Cronenberg concerns are present: a futuristic setting, bizarre scientific experimentation, and an obsessive exploration of perverse forms of sexuality. - 50
The Playlist
Undone by a generally detached air, and by lengthy, choking narration (a factor of shooting without sync sound due to the noise of the camera), Stereo (and arguably his next feature too) is most valuable today as a document of Cronenberg the student, the filmmaker-in-gestation, searching for, but not yet finding that perfect balance between kink, thought experiment and actual entertainment. - 50
Slant Magazine
Even the director’s most rabid fans will find Cronenberg’s debut to be a tough sit. - 40
Variety
Basically a student effort (Cronenberg was 26), pic tests the viewer’s patience and endurance even with its hour’s running time due to its emphatically dry, scientific narration and deliberate emotional distancing. - 30
The New York Times
Stereo mainly proves that you can't successfully spoof psychology merely by making it dull.
