LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! Our increasingly digital society is embarking on an uncertain future. The ramifications of a generation living much of their existence through a screen remain to be seen, but few would deem it a positive development. Adele Tulli’s beautiful, non-narrative exploration (appropriately titled REAL) of our new reality is rare in that it doesn’t cast judgment on the subjects but instead offers an all-encompassing view on new methods of communication — all of which eschew physical, face-to-face communication for relationships developed through a device.
The majority of us know this is not a great trajectory, so another documentary serving as a cautionary tale would be preaching to the choir. Worse, it would serve to potentially heighten the divide between the present generation and those that came before. Tulli goes a different route, making a film akin to Baraka or Samsara but updated for a world inhabited by people buried in their social media feeds.
The film takes us on quite the journey, introducing us to various individuals living out a romantic relationship via avatars in a VR setting, a dutiful deliveryman narrating his experiences from a motorcycle in Seoul, various influencers struggling with their mental health, and a Korean “smart” city that automates the lives of its occupants through the use of personal data. It’s like the world of an Aldous Huxley novel!

“The ramifications of a generation living much of their existence through a screen…”
All of these situations and environments make for a poignant glimpse into the present human condition in 2024. It reminds us that, in many ways, we’re both closer and further away from real connection than we’ve ever been. Tulli’s film grants enough visual eye candy to make it the film palatable, so it never feels like an exercise in philosophical ranting, which is the danger that many films in this vein fall victim to. With the exception of a few short surrealist sequences that drive the point home too hard, REAL keeps the audience engaged without becoming pedantic.
There are numerous times during the film when we will react with shock or disdain at the situations on screen. There’s a stark sense of irony in our casting judgment on those living through a screen as we happen to do the same thing while watching. This writer has yet to be convinced that individuals simulating physical relationships through VR or obsessing over the curated identities of influencers is healthy for anyone. Still, Tulli leaves the final assessments up to us. Frankly, that’s essential for a matter of such import.
Many may want a film that is more inclined to hold their hand with a defined structure, but the interwoven segments of various people and situations tell a tale of a lonely world in the midst of a crisis. The detached presentation will definitely alienate some. The rest of us will find a special work that examines our condition. REAL is the antithesis of a popcorn movie, but it’s one that will have the viewer contemplating our increased reliance on digital forms of connection. At the very least it can make us see through the allure of digital worlds curated to exclude the difficulties of our own.
REAL screened at the 2024 Locarno Film Festival.