OBEX

AroView: With a retro low-fi aesthetic as enchanting as it is effective, this black-and-white indie feels like a lost gem excavated from 1987, the year it is set.

It’s an adoring homage to screen culture whether it be gaming on a primitive Apple Mac and its dot-matrix printer sidekick, or the hardware and content of old TV and VHS video.

While feeling like an accomplished debut, it is in fact the sixth DIY feature made by writer-director Albert Birney, who also plays the lead as an isolated forty-year-old who enters the strange realms of a darkly mysterious computer game. With imagination to burn and a knack for storytelling, Birney even looks like a cross between David Lynch and Mark Duplass, which is an uncanny signifier to fans of either not to miss it.

“OBEX is a lo-fi stunner of a video game movie, merging a deeper understanding of the way games work with playful and creative sequences that also pack a deeply emotional punch.” ~Chase Hutchinson, IGN

“Mr. Birney’s exotically low-fi imagination makes for a freaky and feverish trip.” ~Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal

“A warm yearn for simpler times, told by a distinctive cinematic voice.” ~Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire