I first saw this film when I was 11. I'm not gonna lie, the prosthetic make up on Jeff Goldblum used when he was becoming a fly/man mashup kinda scared me.
It's a film that I own and have seen many times. Out of all the Cronenberg films I've seen, this one definitely stands out for me. I think it's Cronenberg's masterpiece.
The plot is as follows: scientist Seth Brundle is trying to make teleportation possible, and meets a female journalist (Ronnie Quaife) who is keen to get the scoop. They fall in love when Brundle agrees to let her document his work. A fly gets in one of the teleportation pods as Brundle is trying to become the first human to be teleported. Brundle and fly get fused at the genetic level ('BrundleFly') and the scientist gradually changes physically and mentally, with horrific results.
Cronenberg initially trained as a doctor before dropping out of his medicine degree to pursue his passion of film making. A lot of Cronenberg's early films have body horror in them, and The Fly (1986) is no different. I haven't seen the original Fly film (the 50s one) but this 80s remake/reimagining gave Cronenberg a chance to take the body horror to the next level.
Several scenes stand out: particularly the arm wrestle scene, and the confrontation between a degraded Brundle and editor Stathis Borans (Ronnie's boss), with Brundle vomiting powerful enzymes on parts of Borans's body, similar to the feeding mechanism of flies.
The acting of Goldblum (Brundle) and Geena Davies (Ronnie) is fantastic. They really sell you the idea of a young couple in love because, well, at the time they were a young real life couple.
I highly recommend this film. You'll need a strong stomach to watch it, but it's great.