Immortality review: An experimental bridge between film and video games

At 2 a.m. on a Thursday, I’m vibing at my computer in the dark, my face bathed in the aseptic glow of Her story creator Sam Barlow’s new game, The Immortality. Camera is focused tightly on Marissa Marcel’s flawless porcelain complexion (played beautifully by Manon Geage) as she is stripped naked in an almost infernal lighting. “Are you ready for a Satanic fuck?” she asks, going off script and cueing raucous laughter from her off-screen crew. While I’m not quite in the market for that, I Am Get ready to be sexy by the unpredictable magic of film.

It didn’t take long for The ImmortalityThis brings me back to my time working in television. My summer as a teenage intern was spent in tiny spaces filled with VCRs. I watched editors disappear into Avid rooms, cocoon-like. They spent hours looking over the raw footage. The ImmortalityThe scrubbing machine is drawn. There was something lovely and mysterious about watching — being on the fringes of this enigmatic black box where something went in, and a new, yet familiar thing came out. The experience of spending 22 hours in the black hole is frustrating but also fascinating. The ImmortalityI still feel empty. For days after the game ended, each prop, gesture, and wig remained in my head as if it were my job.

The Immortality revolves around Marcel, who, according to the game’s fiction, was plucked out of an audition of thousands by a prominent director in the 1960s. Three films were made by her: Ambrosio (1968), Minsky(1970), There are two of everything (1999). None of her films were made and then she disappeared. The game presents itself as special software designed to showcase Marcel’s recently unearthed work, allowing fans to analyze her films and behind-the-scenes clips. The gist is to use match cuts — transitional cuts between objects with similar themes or structural compositions — to explore Marcel’s movies and figure out what happened to her. Clicking on a feline statue in this example would be an example. MinskyJumps to video of the cat There are two of everything; an abstract figure painting might lead to a mask or an actor’s face. “Successful” match cuts and their subsequent revelations will unlock new clips.

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AmbrosioThis is a sexual thriller with a Gothic twist that’s giallo-esque, adapted from the real Gothic novel The MonkBeautiful matte-painted backgrounds. The crime noir MinskyMarcel follows the lead of Jane Fonda, a shaggy-haired woman with a long beard. KluteShe adopted the same smart, nervy attitude that attracted her straight-laced detective lover. Und in There are two of everythingShe plays two roles: a pop superstar and her body double. Their lives are irrevocably changed by their actions. With a few clicks on the right hotspots, I can flit from the fresh ingenue Marcel in a novice monk’s robe to an older, world-weary Marcel (who hasn’t aged a day) in Doc Martens.

From the moment I arrive, my energy is poured into deconstructing every scene and subtext. I begin by taking copious notes in color coded on each film. After looking at the films, you will be able to make your own observations. Ambrosio’s obvious Alfred Hitchcock equivalent, Arthur Fischer, I contemplate digging out my old Truffaut Spoto books from a college film class that I barely remember. An interview where Fischer has his hand placed tellingly around the back of Marcel’s neck screams “celebrated auteur grooming young girl.” After watching enough of Minsky and There are two of everything, I jot down paranoid speculations about Marcel’s director, John Durick. Brecht and Baudrillard are the main sources for my incoherent ideas. Heidegger is also the inspiration. I go down a rabbit hole of German Expressionist costumes and forget what I’m looking for. Finally, I look down and see that I’ve managed to almost reverse-engineer the scripts for all three films. I did absolutely nothing. Charlie Day is me, and I’m putting together conspiracy theories that stretch back decades.

When I finally realize what I need to do — without giving too much away, it involves getting strategically handsy with the scrubbing mechanic — I surf through the rest of The ImmortalityOn a mad mission to uncover hidden footage, The game’s meta-story is an attempted distillation of the most prominent themes in Marcel’s films: identity, sacrifice, duality, and the dialectical relationship between Art and Order. (At times, it’s rather Gnostic.) Many things feel connected and important because The ImmortalityIt is amazing at hiding layers of complexity and revealing a simple, but predictable truth about how humans create myths. It drove me crazy, even. The Immortality Simply couldn’t leave my head. I can’t say that I loved my time searching for Marissa Marcel, but I wholeheartedly love how beautifully it integrated the player into the processes of watching and filmmaking.

Half Mermaid Productions by Polygon

Toward the “endgame” (which doesn’t really apply to this experimental structure), The ImmortalityIt begins to lose its sparkle. When I am able to answer (mostly) the question, it’s lost its shine. Marissa Marcel: What’s the matter?It becomes tedious and frustrating to go through all the clips. But since the game unfolds through the vehicle of film, there’s an innate urge to “complete” every film, because it’s the only way we can conceive of fully experiencing or knowing a movie. My enthusiasm starts to wane after flipping through scenes that I’ve already examined dozens of times.

While I am able to extract a handful of gems, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up the clicking. From a practical standpoint, my rhythmic search for untried match cuts starts to slow down simply because I’ve run out of objects. To its credit, like the chiding weight of a cat’s paw on my arm, The Immortality gently suggests that perhaps I’ve seen enough, which means drawing a line and accepting the limits of what I have learned. Since this is a game that draws so much attention to process, it makes sense that it’s somewhat self-aware of how monotonous it can be.

What The ImmortalityWhat does extremely well is to combine my lifelong passion for sumptuous period drama with a passionate commitment to stylish production values. (Yes, all the wigs are mine!) and an extremely specific breed of neurotic mystery. The ImmortalityIt was the moment I was looking for the crumbs that I felt most alive. This was even though I was using the most obscure Film 101 symbolism combinations to make match cuts. When I finally came across the scene that showed what happened to the “real” Marissa Marcel, it raised far more questions than answers, while also reminding me that resolutions are simply constructs. However, my greatest frustration was the inconsistency between the film and meta-story. Even though The ImmortalityIt was important to not over-explain. The long backstory digressions felt like betrayal. I was determined to locate Marissa Marcel. (On a minor practical note, I wasn’t a huge fan of the minimalistic UI filters — the “film” and “image” ones are self-evident but I still have no idea what the third funnel-type icon does.)

Half Mermaid Productions by Polygon

Due to its non-linear narrative, The Immortality has no real approach to closure — something I grew to respect, considering how conditioned we are to expect some kind of end, no matter how unsatisfying or abrupt. After working myself into a useless froth to solve the problem of Marissa Marcel and becoming fluent in the game’s visual language, I had made it into the impenetrable black box. This is a great achievement. The ImmortalityIt is amazing how it subverts our collective beliefs about the important Final conclusion. I was a complete ignoramus when I first started, but ended up loving Marissa Marcel and fulfilling my destiny. There are two of everythingIn a straw-like wig, Elizabeth Holmes looks like she is in a Pantene commercial

It feels as if I have completed my role in the strange theatre, even though it was impossible to find every sliver of footage and milk every scene for its subtext or meaning. Sometimes a cat can be just a kitten. Sometimes, a gargoyle can be just a small statue. The Immortality It knows what you are looking for and can help satisfy your curiosity.

This fan-like hunger for knowledge can be used to authority and authenticity. — even if it occasionally undercuts the storytelling — the game also creates an easy choice for the curious outsider: Either play, or don’t. The Immortality embodies the most enticing hallmarks of the “if you know, you know” meme — there’s no quick recap for a politely interested stranger that can adequately sum up the question Marissa Marcel: What’s the matter?To fully understand the project’s scope, all flaws included, it is necessary to let go of all expectation of structure and story. We are unable to do so much with film or games because of the simple divide between the two mediums.

The Immortality August 30th on Windows PC and Mac, Xbox Series X (iOS, Android), and Xbox 360 X (macOS). Half Mermaid Productions gave the pre-release code to review the game on PC. Vox Media also has affiliate relationships. They do not affect editorial content. However, Vox Media might earn commissions for products bought via affiliate links. Here are some links to help you find. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.