Pulling from the probable, frightening future, and the less-probable, fantasized future (e.g. flying cars), David Cronenberg crafts in the punctiliously titled: eXistenZ, a great modern dreamscape, and a great science fiction film. The premise seems simple: a virtual reality gaming system exists in a future where biotechnology is king. At a focus group testing facility, the new game "eXistenZ" is being tried out. It has been developed by the greatest game designer in the world: Allegra Gellar (Jennifer Jason Leigh). An attempt on her life is made from a strange gun constructed from bones. Gellar picks up a friendly face as a bodyguard who turns out to be just an analyst named Ted (Jude Law). The duo traverse the futuristic world which is trashy and sordid, coming across game-obsessed roughs and questionable friends. Cronenberg's ideas here are strange and unconnected, but as in so many other manipulative films, these are intentional oddities. Cronenberg also allows for the obsession with the games to come out of eXistenZ. Roughs who are obsessed with the games, Ted and Allegra's sexual escapades consisting of vaginal-like "body-ports", and a brilliant ending accentuate the idea that the people in this future have an unhealthy obsession / fetish with video gaming.
eXistenZ: ★★★1/2
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