Review of eXistenZ (1999) by Elisa L — 18 Nov 2008

A sci-fi thriller that challenges us to ponder the nature of reality. In the agreeably low-tech world of 'eXistenZ,' the elaborately entertaining film by David Cronenberg, technology has sort of gone backwards, or sideways, and become technobiology, which imagines, among other things, guns made out of flesh and bone and virtual-reality gamepods that resemble nothing so much as pulsating sex toys.

The whole movie is a game, visceral as well as philosophical; it's a great wild ride of guess-what's-real hijinks. In Cronenberg's hands, however, such games are never played on the audience for their own sake: not for nothing do the game and the film have a metaphysical ring. A clue is provided the first time we hear someone pronounce the name -- "ex-is-tenz" -- which sounds closer to "existential" than to "existence." If, as existentialism has it, we are responsible for our own acts in this reality as we know it, what happens if that reality is false?

Even without the icky organic biomechanics, eXistenZ would be completely in keeping with Cronenberg's method, which is to suggest that the world as seen through the eyes of the protagonists (and therefore through the audience's eyes) shouldn't be taken at face value. Cronenberg uses the multilevel construction of a game to show us what he has always shown us: that there is more than one way to experience reality. As the plot of the game keeps shifting, we are left without any bearings, without any way to know whether to trust anyone, even ourselves. This, of course, is life -- or existence.

Depressing? Not the way Cronenberg approaches it. He's a laughing existentialist here, a philosopher who sees the comedy in disorientation.

'eXistenZ' is a fast and engaging joyride; it takes you around in circles, but you don't see the same things twice with a story that is essentially a mind trip. An instant cult classic in my book.