From director Albert Birney comes OBEX, a black and white picture that is unfortunately about as plain as its colour pallete.
Set in 1987 Baltimore, the story follows Conor Marsh, an isolated young man who works by creating pictures on his computer of his customers, via the use of some insane typing skills, creating photo-like images from the characters found on a keyboard. – I’ll be honest, that fact is pretty irrelevant, but too cool not to mention.
Living alone and rarely leaving the house, Conor spends most of his time sat in front of one of his many screens and by the side of his dog Sandy. In the small bubble of his home, surrounded by noisy cicadas, Conor lives a content but somewhat dry life of isolation.
Keen for a sense of adventure, after spotting an advertisement for a brand-new video game, Conor is quick to purchase a copy. The game named OBEX describes itself as – “A breakthrough in INTERACTIVE GAMING that puts YOU inside the game!” doing so by “Using state of the art technology”.
After playing OBEX on his computer he’s quickly disappointed by its rather poor quality- fair enough as it is reminiscent of a primary students’ Scratch Projects (real ones know) – Leading Conor to delete the game… Little does he know, it’s opened a dark and mysterious world within his own home that he can’t remove so easily.
From this point forth the film embarks on a bizarre adventure of ghostly figures and pixels, that sadly feels like if Video killed the radio star, Power Rangers, and Zelda had a baby, who ended up working a reasonable but standard 9-5. Almost as if someone found some good inspo on Pinterest and then decided to make a film without much of an idea other than an aesthetic and vibe.
While an interesting concept, the film is a bit underwhelming – failing to hook or engage by lacking an emotional beat. Director Albert Birney also plays lead character Conor, but sadly neither performance are all that captivating. Lacking much intensity, the film loses much of what makes adventure and horror films work, leaving a picture without much to get excited about.
However, without wanting to be overly negative, the film still has its strengths particularly in the form of its technical elements. The effects and cinematography carry a somewhat crafty feel. With unique visuals that feel dreamlike and provide something interesting to look at to distract from the rather uninteresting narrative and characters.
The film’s score is a particular highlight. Created by Josh Dibb, it brings a hyper electronic feel that plays nicely with the film, creating a somewhat eerie and dynamic feel to whatever scene it accompanies.
However, overall coming in at around 90 minutes, while the film isn’t a massive waste of your time, it’s probably not worth it.
Images and Screener Provided by GFF26
Hi, I’m Neil Singer, Culture Editor and second year student, studying media and journalism, and social policy. In my spare time I play for Strathclyde Lacrosse and watch a lot of films. If your reading this then that probably means you’ve looked at my article, so thankyou! You must be one very cool individual.
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