eXistensZ

I love videogames and movies. However, I have a difficult time disengaging my mind whenever it comes to switching between both mediums. I could be watching a movie and thinking to myself how game mechanics can be incorporated from certain sequences rather than enjoying the film on it's own merits. I can be playing a video game and thinking to myself how it would transition to film. Being a college student going into his final semester, my biggest career struggle is deciding whether or not I want to go into the games industry or the film industry. As a result, it is sometimes hard for me to immerse myself in the escapist lands both these mediums provide without feeling like I am wasting my time.

With eXistensZ, I was fully engaged from beginning to end. Released in 1999, the film is set in the future where virtual reality gaming is the best thing since sliced bread. The film centers around game designer Allegra Geller on the run from assassins after previewing her latest game. Her sole companion is the technophobic, neurotic Ted Pikul, who is forced to confront his fears in order to help Allegra get to safety and save the original copy of her game. 

The film itself is standard thriller fare, yet David Cronenberg leaves enough of his signature style on it to be able to tell it's one of his films. How many techno-thrillers have fleshlight-looking game systems that jack into your spine or pistols made out of fish bones that use teeth as their main ammunition source?  The film features a star-studded cast including Willem Dafoe, Christopher Eccleston, and the late Ian Holm. The scenes inside the titular game discuss game logic and the intentions of the NPCs in regards to plot and character.