Reviews

Once inside the game, Ted and Allegra find themselves in an alternate reality where their game characters are spies. Each time they pause/exit eXistenZ, they're left with paranoid feelings that the real world they've returned to is in fact still the game world. This blurring of realities is exactly what the fanatics fear is destroying society and why Allegra must die. If gamers have no problem killing in virtual reality then what's to stop them killing real people without remorse?

If this all sounds quasi-Matrix, don't be fooled. They are very different films. The Matrix is a sci-fi actioner and although eXistenZ shares similar themes regarding perceived reality, the latter film has more of an indie feel (there are no flashy effects when Ted and Allegra enter the game world, for example). Cronenberg is much more interested in Ted and Allegra's moral and psychological dilemmas rather than fist fights or bullet dodging.

Who can Ted and Allegra trust? Are they becoming addicted to eXistenZ? Are they in the real world or have they been trapped inside the game from the moment Ted plugged in? There's the occasional gross moment, like a tooth being plucked out of Allegra's shoulder (guns are made from bone and bullets from teeth so they can pass through metal detectors) but the real nightmare faced by Ted and Allegra is the fear of virtual reality dementia.

Ted worries that killing a person on his 'spy mission' feels eerily real, but Allegra is so sure that it's all fake that she has no qualms dispatching anyone who stands against her. When the truth does finally come out, it leaves you with a sick feeling in your stomach as you realise Cronenberg has been playing his own little game all along. The final shot of the movie, boosted by Howard Shore's chilling score, is probably what makes people like Bill Gates wake each night in a cold sweat wandering what they've started.

eXistenZ is, put simply, one of the most underrated science fiction movies of the 90's and Cronenberg's most crowd-pleasing effort since The Fly.

DVD Special Features:

{#i>53 minute documentary: The Secret World of Carol Spier{#/i>

{#i>David Cronenberg Commentary{#/i>

{#i>Visual and Special FX Supervisor's Commentary{#/i>

{#i>Theatrical Trailer{#/i>