eXistenZ (1999)

A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

David Cronenberg

Stars:

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Ian Holm

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Allegra Geller
Jude Law	...	Ted Pikul
Ian Holm	...	Kiri Vinokur
Willem Dafoe	...	Gas
Don McKellar	...	Yevgeny Nourish
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Hugo Carlaw
Christopher Eccleston	...	Seminar Leader
Sarah Polley	...	Merle
Robert A. Silverman	...	D'Arcy Nader
Oscar Hsu	...	Chinese Waiter
Kris Lemche	...	Noel Dichter
Vik Sahay	...	Male Assistant
Kirsten Johnson	...	Female Assistant
James Kirchner	...	Landry
Balázs Koós	...	Male Volunteer

Storyline

Allegra Geller, the leading game designer in the world, is testing her new virtual reality game, eXistenZ with a focus group. As they begin, she is attacked by a fanatic assassin employing a bizarre organic gun. She flees with a young marketing trainee, Ted Pikul, who is suddenly assigned as her bodyguard. Unfortunately, her pod, an organic gaming device that contains the only copy of the eXistenZ game program, is damaged. To inspect it, she talks Ted into accepting a gameport in his own body so he can play the game with her. The events leading up to this, and the resulting game lead the pair on a strange adventure where reality and their actions are impossible to determine from either their own or the game's perspective.

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Plot Keywords:

game | assassin | virtual reality | gun | pod | 

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Taglines:

A game to live or to die for.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sci-fi violence and gore, and for language

Details

Country:

Canada UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 April 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

eXistenZ: Mundo virtual

Filming Locations:

Rockwood Conservation Area, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 31,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£362,864 (UK) (30 April 1999)

Gross:

$2,840,417 (USA) (18 June 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Atlantis Communications, Canadian Television Fund, Harold Greenberg Fund, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Kiri and his assistant operate on Allegra's pod, Kiri says, "Köszönöm, köszönöm, köszönöm," Hungarian for "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

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Goofs

When Ted and Allegra approach the motel in the car, only the driver is visible.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Seminar Leader: eXistenZ. Written like this. One word. Small 'E', capital 'X', capital 'Z'. 'eXistenZ'. It's new, it's from Antenna Research, and it's here... right now.

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Connections

Referenced in The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

User Reviews

a wicked head trip

Who should watch this film? Anyone who has ever taken acid, read Philip K. Dick, thought the premise of the Matrix was better then the special effects, has an interest in Philosophy, or likes having their sense of reality messed with. I laughed out loud at this film, just because it was so outrageous and so spot-on. This film is great. This film is cool. It is better than the Matrix, by a long shot (I didn't fall asleep in Existenz, for a kick off: action/special effects films bore me stupid, and despite a plausible philosophical gloss, that is exactly what the Matrix is). Existenz is gross, it is disturbing, and it is funny. David Cronenberg has done some shonky stuff (Rabid) and some works of genius too (Videodrome is another one worth checking out, as is Stephen King adaptation The Dead Zone). But this is one of my all-time favourites. I can't remember the ending- which is a good thing, cos it means I can watch it again. Or perhaps I never watched this film at all. Maybe it's an implanted memory. Or maybe it 'really' happened to me. I don't know. At any rate, it is now seamlessly stitched into my overall illusion of reality, and I'm glad.