David Cronenberg
eXistenZ

Film released in 1999 by the Canadian master David Cronenberg, "eXistenZ" is a hyper-realistic video game, a journey through different realities (real and virtual) visually identical, which intersect, overlap and sometimes match perfectly, creating in the players (and the viewer) a sense of disturbance and confusion so fascinating that they are constantly driven to seek an escape from reality.

Allegra Geller, the most famous game designer in the world, organizes a meeting to present her new creation (the term is indeed fitting) eXistenZ, a revolutionary video game that has the power to completely immerse the players in their virtual alter egos. Everything is powered by the human being itself (a bit like in Matrix: the man is a Duracell battery for the machine), through a sort of umbilical cord that connects the human being and the organic console (the metaflesh: made of blood, flesh, and bones). I won’t reveal anything about the plot, as it would spoil the movie for those who haven’t seen it, I’ll just add that, after an assassination attempt, Allegra will flee with the help of Ted Pikul (Jude Law) to evade those who want her dead.

The genius of the film (and the director) lies in the fact that every reality is presented to us in the same way (except in some instances), without resorting to computer graphics or special effects that sharply separate the virtual from the real, always leaving the viewer in doubt about where the action is taking place. As always, Cronenberg insists on splatter images, with flesh and its mutations (and mutilations) in the forefront, on the fusion of living organism and machine (in Videodrome the man-TV, here man-video game) and the presence of strange amphibian creatures whose entrails are used to build the consoles.

Released in the same year as the highly acclaimed "Matrix", with which it shares some underlying themes (the question: what is real, what isn’t? primarily), "eXistenZ" is a very interesting and intelligent film, in my opinion, too underrated in an era when video games (second life and the like) are truly parallel realities in which to take refuge, and for many enthusiasts, even "places" better than real life.

In conclusion, I would define this work as a sort of video game version of that absolute masterpiece that is "Videodrome" (also by Cronenberg), certainly less morbid and disturbing, but nonetheless an excellent work.