OBEX (2025) review
written by: Albert Birney and Pete Ohs
produced by: James Belfer, Albert Birney, Emma Hannaway & Pete Ohs
directed by: Albert Birney
rating: not rated
runtime: 90 min.
U.S. release date: January 25, 2025 (Sundance Film Festival) and January 9, 2026 (limited)
Sometimes it takes almost a year, maybe more, for a film that premieres at Sundance to reach the general public, and even then, its release is limited to select theaters in a few cities. Sometimes that can be a good thing as it can prevent a film from getting lost in the mix, or the matrix (dot matrix, in this case), as is the case with the main character in writer/director Albert Birney’s black-and-white film, “OBEX”. It’s a surreal, nonsensical fantasy set in a cicada-ravaged Baltimore of 1987, about a socially awkward man and his dog. It’s not “based on a true story”, but it feels like it could be.
Conor Marsh (Albert Birney) is a fortysomething computer programmer living in a Baltimore apartment with his dog, Sandy (played by Dorothy). He rarely ever leaves, because he has everything he needs – three televisions vertically stacked on a wall, surrounded by shelves of VHS tapes and books. For food, his neighbor, Mary (Callie Hernandez), leaves grocery orders at his door. She is his only human connection, yet they never see each other, nor does he ever invite her in. Much of Conor’s engagement is focused on his computer, which is a vintage Mac, but this is 1987, and it feels more like a portal to the future than an antique. His coffee mug says, “Have you hugged your computer lately?”, which seems unironically humorous, considering how Conor spends his time.
One day, an invitation appears on his monitor screen, inviting Conor to “remove your skin”. It’s an ad from Concatix Software offering participation in a video game that lets players insert themselves into the actual game. In 1987, this likely resembled Tron, but today it feels like normalcy. The invite is for a game called OBEX, which allows players to scan themselves into a Legend of Zelda-type world, where they have to contend with the demon king, Ixaroth. Initially bored by the game, Conor quickly reenters when he learns that Ixaroth has abducted Sandy.
Thus begins his journey through a mystical digital world, in which his fearful, reclusive self is replaced by a more confident, quixotic, and bearded gaming persona. Along the way, he unexpectedly confronts some uncomfortable truths about his family history and how that has shaped his self-isolation in the real world, while embarking on several quests.
Like any “hero’s journey”, Conor encounters new environments and meets strange characters, one of which is Victor (Frank Mosely), a guy with a TV set for a head (or helmet?), which seems perfectly normal in the bizarre world of OBEX. In “Wizard of Oz” fashion, he also encounters a version of Mary (allowing a delightful Hernandez to be seen rather than just heard), who adds to the whimsy of this surreal world and serves as a de facto guide. Inevitably, he must confront Ixaroth, the demon represented as a negative-spaced figure with horns, and defeat him by collecting specific items and solving puzzles. Along the way, he begins to realize that this game isn’t really living up to its promotion of being something extraordinary.
Birney previously co-wrote and co-directed the 2021 sci-fi adventure rom-com “Strawberry Mansion,” which starred both of them. Birney is wearing many hats for “OBEX”; besides acting and directing, he’s also one of the producers, and he co-wrote and co-edited the film with Pete Ohs, who serves as cinematographer. The sound and vision Birney and Ohs have created something that intersects strange unease with quirky lo-fi charm. This is accentuated by composer Josh Dibb’s score, which incorporates hypnotic synth sounds with the tinnitus-like ringing of cicada rhythms.
As for the visuals, I was surprised that Birney and Ohs didn’t opt for a different visual style within this digital world. I know I would’ve felt more engaged and intrigued if there was a significant aesthetic difference between Conor’s real world and the digital one he gets sucked into. That could be due to budget limitations, or maybe it would be way too similar to “The Wizard of Oz”, but so what? The characters’ appearance changes in OBEX, so why not the strange environment they inhabit? There’s definitely a different atmosphere to the digital world, but it doesn’t feel all that different from the black-and-white monotony of Conor’s real world.
There’s a parallel here to our current relationship with screens, AI, and technology, but that connection is too subtle to notice. It could be that Birney and Ohs are lamenting an analog world, where human connection is natural and common, but the static of “OBEX”, as charming as it is, gets in the way of such a stance.
RATING: **
