Albert Birney’s OBEX is a dark, twisted, and nonsensical fantasy about a man who gets sucked into a video game and forced to fend for his life while trying to recover his most trusted companion; a Wizard of Oz-esque mixed with a dash of Wizard of Wor, all while millions of bugs emerge after long dormancy just to add to the level of auditory anxiety. It was a strange feeling watching OBEX mere days after the passing of David Lynch. With its start black and white imagery, low-fi aesthetic, and fascination with introverted characters, it’s fair to say that the likes of Eraserhead were on my mind while watching Albert Birney’s latest. Then again, given its video game structure based on a series of quests, it was easy to think warmly of 100s of Beavers, or a canine caper like John Wick.
Yet, pigeonholing OBEX into what’s been seen before misses the point. As part of the generation wowed by the likes of Tron on the big screen, waited for games to load off of floppy disc, and felt the annoyance of trying to enter a virtual castle only to bonk repeatedly against the malformed sprite representing the on-screen goal, it seems that OBEX is designed not only to pique the nostalgia for those of my age but to amuse many far too young to be part of that original scene of being a computer nerd in the mid-1980s.
A Bizarre Baltimorean Tale That Takes a Technological Turn

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Birney stars in his own film as Connor Marsh, an awkward gentleman making a home in a comfortable Baltimore apartment alone with his beloved dog Sandy. Connor’s employment, such as it is, is to reproduce photographs as ASCII art, clattering away on a soiled Macintosh keyboard and then printing out on the dot matrix printer setup beside his electronic canvas. Outside, the cacophony of cicadas rattle away, awakened after their 17-year slumber to cause acoustic havoc for Marsh and his puppy. He relies upon a friendly neighbor named Mary (Callie Hernandez) for his food delivery rather than a computerized delivery app that wouldn’t become common for decades. Mary is just about his only real-life connection with another human being, and even then their conversations are held from behind locked doors.
Flipping through a computer magazine to see the ad that brings him clients for his artistry (only $5 per sketch!) he sees the opportunity to participate in a new video game, sending off a VHS tape of him making key poses, and soon receiving back a disc to be executed. It’s here that the game underwhelms at first, and he goes back to watching self-made VHS tapes of the likes of Nightmare on Elm Street that he’s bootlegged off of late-night programming.

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As can be expected in such tales, he’s soon sucked away from the “real” world into the game itself, encountering a land that’s a mix of Legend of Zelda and Zork with a smattering of Lord of the Rings-like meandering. As he traverses the land of OBEX looking for his abducted dog, he encounters Mary in her more medieval form, helming the shop where the supplies ubiquitous to such adventures are procured. Soon he teams up with Victor (Frank Mosely), an RCA television-headed companion who serves as both guide and squire, and the two head off East through uncertain terrain while trying to avoid having their skin stripped off.
Albert Birney Builds an Enthralling World in ‘OBEX’

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Time moves differently in OBEX, we’re told, and that’s as good enough an excuse as any for Birney to get even more bizarre with his temporal and tonal jumps. While decidedly odd, there’s a charm to the prevailing nonsense that keeps it from overstaying its welcome. Beyond the kitschy technology and quixotic adventuring, there’s a sense that Connor’s actions really are coming from a genuine place and that despite the cicada’s interfering with his ability to leave his sanctum, this is an outward-looking individual who hasn’t completely succumbed to what first appears to be antisocial agoraphobia.
With its angular synthesizer score, the incessant buzz of those damn bugs, and the kind of sweet yet gormless energy that Connor brings to the fore, it’s easy to see OBEX as a patience test for many audience members. Still, the film refuses to be surreal just for the sake of lack of coherence (a line, it’s fair to say, that Lynch himself didn’t always stay on the good side of), and despite all of its rollicking turns and descents into flights of fancy, OBEX always feels like it’s playing by a set of rules that remain consistent within the bizarre world being built.
‘OBEX’ Is Quietly Humorous in the Face of the Bleak Quest

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There’s also a nice dose of quiet humor so that even when things are at the most bleak, we’re reminded of the kind of fun that these movies can offer. Rather than just a smattering of psychedelia, there’s a warmth at play both in how Connor and Sandy interact, and how Birney realizes the oblique nature of both the real and virtual world that we experience in this narrative.
OBEX is a surprisingly open film about being reclusive, inviting us into its characters just as Connor is encouraged to enter the game. It’s strange enough to feel a bit avant-garde, familiar enough in its odd tropes to make it coherent, and sympathetically told to be engaging even for those without much patience for the patently odd. There’s a sense of joy throughout in delving into Connor’s way of being, an at times sordid yet satisfying visit to a slightly twisted place. With fun production elements, a goofy storyline, discordant yet effective sound design, and enough oddness to keep things captivating, traversing through the world of OBEX makes for quite an entertaining journey.
OBEX premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

OBEX

Release Date

January 25, 2025

Runtime

90 minutes

Director

Albert Birney

Writers

Albert Birney, Pete Ohs

Producers

James Belfer, Todd Remis, Adam Belfer, Kyra Nicole Rogers

Pros & Cons

Fun retro aesthetic
Goofy video game adventure story
Darkly comical Lynchain fun

Albert Birney’s wild ride into the world of a video game provides some twisted fun.