Browning Cinema

Existenz (1999)

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Browning Cinema GA

Existenz (1999) Notre Dame Writers Pick

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Notre Dame Writers Pick Some Movies for Us to Watch
Directed by David Cronenberg
With Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe
Rated R, 98 minutes, Blu-ray
MFA Creative Writing Introduction Scheduled!

Released in 1999, as the internet was still being terraformed and VR Troopers had recently retired from saving the world weekly, but set in 2030, this often-overlooked David Cronenberg title received second waves of attention from its inclusion in the intriguing canon of 1999 films, the popularity of Cronenberg fils's Possessor with similar themes, and, naturally, the proliferation of augmented-reality technology in the last 25 years.

The film follows Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who after a string of hits designs the virtual reality game Existenz (stylized: eXistenZ). After an attempt on her life from a Realist (i.e., people who demonstrate against virtual reality for its potential harmful effects on reality), she picks up a bodyguard (Jude Law). From there, the lines blur between what's real and what's not as the video game and its designer face existential threats.



Free for ND, SMC, HC, and IUSB Students.

Sponsored by the Meg and John P. Brogan Endowment for Classic Cinema and The Creative Writing Program at the University of Notre Dame.

Event Dates

Thursday, September 26, 2024 - 9:30 PM

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