eXistenZ (1999): Cronenberg’s (Prophetic) Exploration of Gaming, Virtual Reality and Identity, Starring Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holmand

David Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror exploration of gaming, virtual reality and identity bears more weight now than it did at the time of its original release.

The film follows Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a game designer who finds herself targeted by assassins while playing a virtual reality game of her own creation.

Grade: B (*** out of *****)

eXistenZ
Theatrical release poster

This international co-production between Canada, the UK, and France, stars rapidly rising star Jude Law and indie cinema darling Jennifer Jason Leigh.

The ensemble includes Ian Holm, Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie, Sarah Polley, Christopher Eccleston, Willem Dafoe, and Robert A. Silverman.

Narrative Premise

In the near-future, biotechnological virtual reality game consoles known as “game pods” have replaced electronic ones.

The pods present “UmbiCords” that attach to “bio-ports,” connectors surgically inserted into players’ spines.

Two game companies, Antenna Research and Cortical Systematics, compete against each other.

In addition, a group of fanatics called Realists fight both companies to prevent the “deforming” of reality.

Jude Law, just months away from playing Dickie Greenleaf in Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, may be too handsome to be convincing as a nerdy p.r. flack pressed into service when an attack is made on the life of game designer Allegra Geller (Jason Leigh).

But together they find an accord as they explore multiple layers of reality and interactivity in the kind of biologically-queasy way that Cronenberg had shown (and will continue to show) in other films.

Film’s Origins

The film’s plot originated after Cronenberg interview Salman Rushdie for Shift magazine in 1995. At the time, Rushdie was in hiding due to a fatwa having been put on his life, due to his controversial book The Satanic Verses. Rushdie’s dilemma gave Cronenberg an idea of “a Fatwa against a virtual-reality game designer.”

eXistenZ lacks the flash and style of the higher-profile counterparts in the director’s filmography, but it’s a thriller that, up to a point, keeps you guessing while impressing with its sense of imagination and paranoia.