One of the least-expected, most welcome, and coolest surprises on Star Trek: Discovery was the ongoing, recurring presence of David Cronenberg as the mysterious character, Dr. Kovich, who first popped up in season three of the show. Cronenberg has acted on occasion over the years but is far, far better known as the director of such features as The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Crash, Eastern Promises, Cosmopolis, and Crimes of the Future. And now he’s back in the director’s chair for The Shrouds, which, nearly a year after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, will open in the United States on April 25.
Sideshow and Janus Films, which will release the film, just dropped a brief synopsis and a short teaser trailer. The synopsis reads, “Karsh (Vincent Cassel) is a prominent businessman. Inconsolable since the death of his wife, he invents GraveTech, a revolutionary and controversial technology that enables the living to monitor their dear departed in their shrouds. One night, multiple graves, including that of Karsh’s wife, are desecrated. Karsh sets out to track down the perpetrators.” In addition to Cassel, the film stars Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, and Sandrine Holt.
The Shrouds debuted at Cannes on May 20, 2024, just 10 days before Cronenberg made his last appearance as Kovich on Discovery. As fans know, in the series finale, “Life, Itself,” Kovich revealed his true identity. He was actually Daniels, the temporal agent/time traveler played by Matt Winston across eight episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Asked by Michael Burnham who he really is, he answered, “Agent Daniels of the USS Enterprise and other places.”
So, what was Cronenberg, of all people, doing on Star Trek: Discovery in the first place? Speaking to me for Star Trek Explorer in 2021, he explained, “I like to say – I guess ad nauseum – that I’m cheap and I’m available, and I live in Toronto. (Executive Producer) Alex Kurtzman apparently got in touch with some casting people who know me well because they cast my films. They asked if they thought I’d be interested in being part of the show. Of course, I said, ‘Who wouldn’t be?’ I was certainly a fan of The Original Series and would never in a million years have dreamed I’d actually be in a show. So, I was happy to do it. And the timing was right, because I wasn’t directing anything at the time.”