eXistenZ
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“I’m feeling a little disconnected from my real life”
Overview
At a secret press conference, celebrity game developer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) reveals her most authentic virtual reality project yet: eXistenZ, a simulation accessed by plugging an organic gaming pod into a surgically implanted port at the base of one’s spine. When reality-extremist assassins attack, Allegra goes on the run under the protection of security guard Ted Pikul (Jude Law). To ensure her master-copy device isn’t damaged beyond repair, she insists Ted have a port surgically installed to plug into eXistenZ with her. Entering the virtual world, the two find reality and game difficult to differentiate and begin to question what is really is real.
Why See This Film
Sharing close thematic and aesthetic links with the few other Cronenberg-penned originals like his latest serving Crimes of the Future and the reality-warping groundbreaker Videodrome, eXistenZ takes the mind-body schism into virtual reality complete with weird body-horror, organic tech, existential terror, reality-extremists, new orifices and a sense of unease about the human condition that lingers after the credits roll. A pair of power performances from Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh, accompanied by a haunting score from long-time collaborator Howard Shore solidify this as an essential Cronenberg creation.
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