OBEX
The long-gone retro year of 1987, a world of cathode ray tube televisions, floppy disks and videotaped entertainment, but Conor Marsh’s world is smaller and more basic still, never venturing past his front door in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, his groceries delivered by his friend Mary and he bringing them in when she has left, or the backyard where he plays with Sandy, the dog he rescued two years before.
Making money at five dollars a pop for converting family photographs into ASCII art, an advert in the trade magazine he uses to attract business catches his eye, the interactive video adventure game OBEX offering to put the player in the action; following the instructions and sending his likeness, Conor is disappointed with the limits on his first run through, but the game has plans other than simply allowing itself to be uninstalled.
Directed by Strawberry Mansion’s Albert Birney from a script co-written with Pete Ohs, he also plays the reclusive Conor, drawn into OBEX when the demon Ixaroth whom he was tasked to defeat apparently manifests from within the game and kidnaps his sole companion and comfort, finding inside the realm an avatar of Mary (Callie Hernandez) who runs the magic shop and another ally in monitor-headed Victor (Frank Mosley).
A lo-fi art project with the pacing of a dialup connection, OBEX has moments of invention such as the confrontation with the marauding skeletons of the Valley of Bones, collapsing as their flesh unravels, but what is on offer is small compensation for what the film lacks, a meandering indulgence which never finds its direction despite frequent reference to the guiding map.
The quest to rescue Sandy (Dorothy) lacking occurrence or variety to engage the viewer, little more than a respite from the cicada infestation of the real world, Conor ambles through monochrome forests enhanced by occasional effects created on a budget which would shame Noggin the Nog, LARPing perhaps fun for those who indulge but not usually considered a spectator sport.
Recalling recent films such as Divinity and Psyche, similarly experimental and abstract as they dealt with new technologies and questioned loss of identity and connection, mixed with the plot of Booger or Meow!, both concerning missing cats rather than dogs, OBEX lacks a compelling hook of character, style or narrative twist to carry it, never aspiring to be more than the oddity it has apparently settled for.
Glasgow Film Festival continues until Sunday 8th March
OBEX will be available on digital download from Monday 9th March
