Sundance Film Festival Review: ‘OBEX’ is a Lo-Fi Curiosity

Sundance is pretty much where you go to get a film like OBEX. A tiny movie with a big idea, one that’s done on a very slim budget. Good versions of this often can launch a career. Bad ones are quickly forgotten. There’s a sliding scale within these two extremes, too. OBEX is more or less in between, as it’s a solid flick that frustrates by not being a bit more, while next being uninteresting or boring. So, a Sundance Film Festival title, through and through.

OBEX is exactly what you think it’s going to be. Normally, that’s what you refer to stock Hollywood genre fare. However, I do think it can apply to a Sundance indie, as it’s likely neither to overwhelm or underwhelm. You’re not going to be let down, though having your expectations exceeded is just as unlikely.

Taking place in 1987, Conor Marsh (Albert Birney) is living a rather secluded life, mostly spending time with his dog Sandy. His neighbor Mary (Callie Hernandez) helps him with groceries and provides more or less his only human contact. One day, he begins playing a new computer game called OBEX, allowing Sandy and himself to be a part of it by sending in a video. This choice will have massive consequences for Conor.

Shortly after starting the game, reality begins to blur with it, while Sandy goes missing, captured by the game’s demon villain IXAROTH. To save her, Conor is going to have to go on a video-game style mission. The more he seeks out his dog, the more that the lines between game and reality merge,

While Albert Birney is directing himself, it’s still a very solid performance. Callie Hernandez is more polished, sure, but Birney finds a way to invest you in this strange little character. You want him to succeed on his quest, both for his dog and for himself. It’s not showy, but it is effective. Supporting players include Frank Mosley in the tiny cast, but it’s Birney’s show.

Birney also co-writes and directs, in addition to starring. Pete Ohs provides the co-writing duties while also acting as cinematographer, though for Birney, much of the other aspects of the flick are on his shoulders. To that end, it’s consistently lo-fi, while also being completely engrained in technology. It becomes a curiosity in the way that you’re not sure what’s next, though classic gamers may have an idea. It doesn’t all work, but watching this does make you very interested in what Albert Birney opts to do next.

OBEX is a calling card film that also showcases the kind of work that Sundance is known to traffic in. This tiny flick has lots to say about media consumption, more of which works than doesn’t, which should ensure that Birney works on a bigger scale soon. Gamers will get a kick out of this, for sure, but any adventurous viewer should too.

SCORE: ★★★