'OBEX' Review: This ain't your kid's video game
Premiering at Sundance earlier this year comes the latest film from Albert Birney–a fleshed-out character study against the backdrop of '80s nostalgia
This review was submitted for the Capital City Film Festival in Lansing, Michigan.
For as long as video games have existed, I can only imagine an eventual step was to make them interactive. When games became interactive, the next natural step was to make them indistinguishable from life itself. Now that video games have entered the stratosphere more realistic than ever, what’s next? To enter them entirely and make them part of our reality.
Albert Birney’s OBEX (2025) takes a staunchly different look at this premise by fully entrenching its subject in a video game. Place the floppy disk in your first-run Macintosh and OBEX’s black-and-white, 8-bit aesthetics might not seem that impressive, but give it time. Before you know it, you’ll be transported into the game’s mythic quest, not far off from an evening in Dungeons & Dragons. However, it won’t be by choice, as local computer geek/recluse Conor Marsh (played by Birney) comes to find when he orders a customized version of the game through a tech magazine. The ad promises an experience unlike any other (for 1987), and for a small fee and a short video about yourself, you too can immerse yourself in OBEX’s world.
Conor Marsh lives alone in his Baltimore home, relying solely on the company of his dog Sandy, hundreds of video tapes that line his living room walls, and daily interactions with his neighbor, delivering his groceries and checking his mail. He’s not really afraid of the outside world–he’s just perfectly content with the world he’s built inside his home, aside from the deafening noise of cicadas outside. He passes the time by working through his mountain of horror VHS tapes and answering $5 requests to transform people’s photos into art using keyboard symbols. It’s a simple life stricken by melancholic undertones, but OBEX changes all that. After being initially unimpressed by the game’s gimmicky presentation, one night the game develops a mind of its own and takes Sandy. It’s up to Conor to go into the game and save his beloved pooch.
OBEX, based solely on its premise, makes it seem like it’s going to echo the sentiments of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)–a movie I enjoyed when it was released, but now feel like it has led to the downfall of big budget filmmaking. However, OBEX’s offbeat sentiments and strange mix of tonal experimentation give it a lot more personality than I was expecting. I was unfamiliar with Birney’s work going into OBEX, but was surprised to see this is his sixth feature film, which makes sense for the sheer scope and ambition that the film employs. The universe that Birney sets up feels so lived in, both in and outside of OBEX’s walls, yet never dwells on the details. The film certainly has influences, ranging from David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977) to John Badham’s WarGames (1983), but the experience is an authentic representation of Birney’s ideas.
The film isn’t perfect–sometimes Birney’s establishment of mood and atmosphere can get a little labored as the film progresses and another round in the editing room could’ve been used to trim off some excess downtime. However, OBEX commands much of its attention by being so committed to its character study and gorgeous visuals that it’s worth sticking it out to reach its narrative payoffs. In a world where A Minecraft Movie (2025) is nearing the billion dollar threshold at the worldwide box office, OBEX shows it’s possible to get fully immersed in a video game universe without sacrificing what makes it special. Just know going in that this isn’t for kids.
B
Feature image credit goes to Oscilloscope via Variety
