Movie Substrate · Film

eXistenZ (1999)

★ 6.8 · 2,159 ratings on TMDB

Play it. Live it. Kill for it.

eXistenZ poster★ 6.8

A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.

DirectorDavid Cronenberg
CastCallum Keith Rennie, Christopher Eccleston, Don McKellar, Ian Holm, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law
GenresAction, Science Fiction, Thriller
The emergence reading

eXistenZ keeps every mind human — it fights its subject at zero distance. The story fights on E8/E9/E10 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing technology, reality, control, identity, media.

zero-distanceCAtechnologyrealitycontrolidentitymedia
⇄ Parameter shift — the dial this world turnsrigor: loose
E8simulationsimulation is a universally accessible, fully immersive neural interface that can be nested indefinitely (technology · universal)
Also inFilms about controlFilms about technologyFilms about identityFilms that alter a rule of reality
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Same rung, same subject

Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.

The Emoji Movie (2017)E8/E9/E10 · control, identityThe Matrix (1999)E8/E10 · control, identityRalph Breaks the Internet (2018)E8/E9/E10 · identity, mediaHoly Motors (2012)E8/E9/E10 · identity, mediaMorbius (2022)E8/E10 · control, identitySpy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)E8/E9 · control, media

Same subject, different rung

The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.

WarGames (1983)E12/E14 · rare rung · control, technologyImpossible Things (2021)E11/E12 · rare rung · control, technologyDeath Race 2000 (1975)E12 · rare rung · control, media

Also bends a rule of reality

Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)alters at E8 · same rung · looseS1m0ne (2002)alters at E8 · same rung · looseOblivion (2013)alters at E8 · same rung · looseGhost in the Shell (1995)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorousTRON: Legacy (2010)alters at E8 · same rung · looseSurrogates (2009)alters at E8 · same rung · loose

Same people

Shared director or cast.

Naked Lunch (1991)dir. David CronenbergScanners (1981)dir. David CronenbergCrimes of the Future (2022)dir. David CronenbergThe Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)Jude LawThe Aviator (2004)Ian HolmRoad to Perdition (2002)Jennifer Jason Leigh