New Rose Hotel

New Rose Hotel (1999) is Abel Ferrara's sci-fi neo-noir, available to watch online on iFILM. Adapted from a short story by cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson, it unfolds in a near future ruled by rival megacorporations. Two industrial spies take a contract: lure a brilliant geneticist away from one empire and into the arms of another.

The plan is simple and dirty. The bait isn't money but a woman — a nightclub dancer named Sandii, hired to seduce the scientist into defecting. Christopher Walken plays Fox, the cold tactician running the con, and Willem Dafoe is the partner who makes the fatal mistake of falling for his own weapon. Asia Argento is the crack through which the whole scheme starts to collapse. Ferrara isn't shooting an action picture about tomorrow; he's building a slow drama of desire, trust and betrayal, where half the film is memory replayed and turned over again.

This one openly splits its audience: some find a hypnotic trance, others find it a slog. Viewers after tidy genre thrills should keep walking, but Gibson devotees and arthouse fans will find plenty to chew on. Stream New Rose Hotel (1999) online on iFILM.