Review of eXistenZ (1999) by The W — 10 Aug 2010

I am a huge fan of David Cronenberg's works, and this movie is no exception, and although I do believe that this is not anywhere close to his best - I find this film fascinating.

What intrigues me is the absolutely phenomenal way that this film walks the very thin line between genius and being a complete incomprehensible mess, both in the terms of it's story and narrative structure. I do believe that Mr. Cronenberg is one of the greatest directors to ever grace Hollywood, so it is in my opinion that the way that this movie constantly threatens to fall apart at the seems, but never quite does so, is intentional.

I will not go into the plot at all, because, truthfully, I wouldn't know how to describe this film without giving everything away, so instead, I will just provide you with the premise:

The flick starts with a beta-test of a new Virtual Reality game, "eXistenZ", set in a virtual world where the rules and objectives are not clear and the player has to figure out what's going on. There is an audience in attendance, some of whom are randomly selected to be a part of the beta-test, however, before testing can begin, there is an assassination attempt on the life of the game's creator, and she, along with her entrusted bodyguard, have to flee the scene and try to figure out what's going on.

It is safe to say that, inevitably, the 2 main characters enter the game world, and what follows next is an extremely disjointed and fragmented experience where neither you nor the characters know exactly what's happening, or even if they are in the, so called, Real World, or are still unknowingly playing the game.

The reason why I rated this movie so high is because I love how the viewer is treated exactly like the characters, the fragmented nature of the narrative structure gives an excellent parallel to how the actual characters feel, what they see and what they do, or do not, understand.

Full of double- and triple-crosses, fantastic imagery and sharp critique on the dangers of immersing oneself in an alternate reality which looks and feels exactly like real life, this movie raises some serious questions on the nature of reality, identity, technology and the dangers of getting all three of the above-mentioned confused. Well, maybe just the first two, as I imagine it would be rather hard to get technologically confused...maybe if you're from a cave and don't know what the internets are, though I would imagine that you wouldn't be reading this article, then, anyway, but I digress. While some people compare this to Videodrome and state that this movie is, in essence, just a rehash, I disagree, I think this movie completely manages to justify its own eXistenZ (hehe, see what I did there, huh? Huh?), while still delivering a wholly original and entertaining story.

Overall, if you like movies that fuck with your mind and then, just before the end credits, when you think that everything has fallen into place, throw you another middle finger on their way out, insult your culinary skills and slam your door - this is definitely the movie for you!

As always, thanks for reading, and please comment and thumb up/down. However, if you thumb down, I will not give you a chocolate cookie.