eXistenZ

eXistenZ is a 1999 Canadian science fiction horror film directed by David Cronenberg. The film centers around a group of people playing highly interactive game called eXistenZ.  To play the game, players physically connect themselves to a game pod using a fleshy umbi cord that is inserted into the base of their lower back.  The game pod itself is made from biological flesh tissue and throughout the film is treat like a living organism.  

The film begins in a church where multiple people gather for a demo of eXistenZ.  Our main characters Allegra Geller and Ted Pikul are introduced.  Allegra Geller as a young, famous, designer of eXistenZ and Ted Pikul a lowly marketing trainee working as a security guard.

Allegra’s life is immediately threatened in an assassination attempt which whisks her and Pikul away, fleeing for their lives. They hide away at a gas station were Pikul gets a bioport installed, a motel were Allegra and Pikul plug into a game pod and experience the game world.  After several more attempts on Allegra’s life and sever damage to her beloved gamepod both Pikul and Allegra become unsure whether or not they are in reality or in the game world.  Which leads to the dramatic ending of Allegra, Pikul and other characters they met with in the game at an actual focus group demo session for the real life game tranCendenZ. tranCendeZ is played using equipment that attaches to the player’s head and arms. The overall ending of the movie still leads to more questions.  After the the players finish the demo and begin to leave, our main characters from the game eXistenZ violently kill the actual creators of tranCendeZ leaving one man asking,  “Are we still in the game?”

The overall narrative is quite strange.  The characters behave strangely and interact with their environment in an almost distant manner. For example, Allegra and Pikul make their way to the countryside and hide out at gas station. Outside the gas station Allegra touches the gas pumps, throws a stone and wanders around observing the setting in a manner that after watching the ending of the film, one could interpret this as her perhaps exploring this game environment.

The biological means of the gamepods to play tranCendeZ does an excellent job of representing how advanced these virtual reality games are.  The gampods themselves run off of your energy.  So if you are tired or need food or are in the game too long, the gamepod itself with physically react and boot you out of the game.  The connection to the game however is through a bioport that is created in order to bring the players entire physical being into the game so to speak.   Within the game eXistenZ there are even mini game pods that can be inserted into one bioport.  Disgusting yes but fascinating how with in the game one can access another game.

The ending of the film however brings up some larger ideas about our understanding of reality.  Continually through the movie the theme of what can we look for, how can we know that the reality we are in is in fact the real reality?, How do we know for a fact that what is real, is really real?  When it is revealed at the end of the movie, that a majority of the films plot occurs within a virtual reality game, where people play a similar virtual reality game, and in the game people become confused whether or not they are in another game, and at the end of the film we are asked yet again to consider are we still in a game. It is difficult to explain and understand but it leaves room to consider this: what signs can we look for to establish that indeed right now that you reading this are not in a game similar to tranCendeZ or eXistenZ?  Are we just looking for consistency? I myself am not sure, but I don’t think it matters much.  Even if this reality is simply a game or a game with in a game or maybe just the only reality there is, shouldn’t we just treat whatever is in front of us seriously and aspire to “find out” at the end?