Just finished watching eXistenZ. I enjoyed it, and am still trying to figure it out.
The plot is far too convoluted to explain–you really have to watch it to see what it’s about. The film centers around a virtual-reality game (called–you guessed it–eXistenZ) which, from inside the game, cannot be easily distinguished from the “real” world. Not surprisingly, a good portion of the plot revolves around the question of “what is reality,” a familiar sci-fi theme that is somewhat cliched at this point, but eXistenZ handles the subject differently than other movies of its ilk. I went into it expecting an underwhelming faux-intellectual sci-fi flick, and for the first hour that is exactly what I got–but the final third of the film put some interesting spins on the plot and really made me reconsider my initial impressions.
So yeah–definitely a good rental, if you’re looking for a Twilight Zone-esque mindbender along the lines of Dark City. Not a timeless classic for the ages, but a well-done B-movie nonetheless.
Oh, and fair warning: it’s also quite disgusting. As in “don’t watch it while eating dinner.” And don’t watch it with your parents (sorry, Mom and Dad–you guys wouldn’t like it very much anyway). While most movies have, at most, only one Scene That I Could’ve Lived a Full and Satisfying Life Without Having Seen, eXistenZ has two or three.

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