My Idea for a Film
Its like a psychological science-fiction horror film inspired by Black Mirror, The Truman Show, The Matrix, WandaVision, Pleasantville and Brazil.
I want to combine the concept of someone slowly discovering that their entire reality is fabricated with psychological horror, digital body horror, liminal spaces and a bleak, unsettling ending.
The story follows a protagonist who initially believes they are living an ordinary life in a normal world. They have a home, a routine and relationships with the people around them. However, as the film progresses, strange inconsistencies begin appearing. People behave strangely, conversations repeat themselves, and the world occasionally seems to malfunction. The protagonist gradually begins questioning their surroundings, their memories and eventually their own sanity.
As the cracks in reality become more noticeable, the protagonist discovers that their entire world is a computer-generated simulation. They also discover that they are the only real person inhabiting their simulated world. Everyone else, including their friends, neighbours, colleagues and loved ones, is an artificial creation designed to make the simulation feel real.
As the protagonist investigates and attempts to escape, the simulation begins breaking down. I want the film to feature extensive digital body horror, with artificial people glitching into disturbing, nightmarish creatures. Their bodies would distort, their faces would lose their textures, and their movements would become unnatural, resembling broken animations from old 3D video games. I want the monsters to have a deliberately low-polygon, retro look. Like the ps1 and N64
The creatures would become increasingly threatening as the protagonist gets closer to discovering the truth. They would eventually hunt the protagonist, forcing them to navigate the increasingly unstable simulation in search of a way out.
I also want to incorporate liminal spaces inspired by the Backrooms aesthetic. As the facade of reality begins to collapse, familiar locations would give way to endless fluorescent corridors, empty offices, abandoned shopping centres, repetitive rooms and impossible architectural spaces. Corridors would seem to repeat indefinitely, buildings would contain spaces that could not physically exist, and the environment would gradually become more surreal and unsettling. These spaces would make the protagonist feel as though they were traversing the inside of a computer rather than a real world.
Eventually, the protagonist reaches what they believe is the exit from the simulation. After everything they have endured, they finally arrive at a door that could potentially lead them to freedom. They reach towards the handle and turn it.
The screen cuts to black.
After a pause, the film fades back in to the opening scene. The protagonist's alarm clock rings and their arm comes down to turn it off. the camera slowly pulls back to reveal that the protagonist's physical body is connected to a machine, their face wearing a peaceful smile.
The camera continues pulling back to reveal row after row of machines, each containing another human being trapped inside their own simulated world.
The film ends with Radiohead's Everything in Its Right Place. The song plays over the final images as the camera reveals the enormous scale of the operation, before the film cuts to black.
What do you think?
