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.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.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.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 14 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJennifer Jason Leigh had already finished shooting her role in Eyes Wide Shut (1999) when she took on this role. When her scenes in that movie required re-shooting, the schedule required for it interfered with this one. Leigh chose to stay on this movie, and her role in Eyes Wide Shut (1999) was re-cast.
- GoofsThe first time we see Ted Pikul at the trout farm, he labels an envelope with the letters LA. The L is clearly connected to the A. However in the next shot with the envelope on the conveyor belt the L and A are no longer connected.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Chinese Waiter: Hey, tell me the truth... are we still in the game?
- Alternate versionsCanadian distributor Alliance Atlantis removed some graphic violence from the Ontario release of the film in a failed attempt to lower the Restricted rating to Adult Accompaniment.
- ConnectionsEdited into The History of the Hands (2016)
Featured review
A well-crafted film deflated by the Matrix-sodden expectations of an effects-obsessed audience.
I feel compelled to speak up for this film against the spoilt ravings of the it-said-it-was-like-the-Matrix-but-I-didn't-see-any-cool-computer-graphics-a nywhere crowd that have dominated these pages.
There seem to be two schools of thought on the use of special effects in movies. The prevalent theory - depressingly common among film goers and film-makers alike - seems to be that a good effect should stand out of a film and make the audience coo like a pigeon. If you subscribe to that theory, fine, watch the Matrix and be happy. If you think that a special effect is a means to an end, a way to portray a fictional vista as a believable realism, then watch eXistenZ and marvel at how a grotesque and visceral world can be made so engrossingly real and intriguing. This film has its fair share of effects, but they are so well grafted into the ethos the film evokes that you just won't notice them on first viewing. And in contrast with the current trend towards computer-generated effects, Cronenburg knows the value of his tactile world; the physical creativity involved in the gristle-gun building scene is a fantastic example.
Okay, so virtual reality has been used many times as a concept - and by films that actually came BEFORE the Matrix too - but the totality with which this film portrays its own organic brand of VR is truly engrossing. Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh are utterly watch-able and the chemistry between them is the perfect vehicle to lead an audience through the admittedly gruesome situations the film describes.
There is an element of old-fashioned escapist fantasy in this film that manages to be strangely endearing despite the gore and I suggest that this is where the film triumphs - a triumph that can be attributed to clever writing, intelligent acting and characterisation, a compelling story, charismatic leads, a vivid and disciplined imagination and the discerning use of effects and visual style.
If the Matrix is an `oooh, aaah' sort of film, then this is more an `oooh, eeugh' movie - but don't allow the glare of the Matrix to dull your senses to the darker appeal of eXistenZ.
There seem to be two schools of thought on the use of special effects in movies. The prevalent theory - depressingly common among film goers and film-makers alike - seems to be that a good effect should stand out of a film and make the audience coo like a pigeon. If you subscribe to that theory, fine, watch the Matrix and be happy. If you think that a special effect is a means to an end, a way to portray a fictional vista as a believable realism, then watch eXistenZ and marvel at how a grotesque and visceral world can be made so engrossingly real and intriguing. This film has its fair share of effects, but they are so well grafted into the ethos the film evokes that you just won't notice them on first viewing. And in contrast with the current trend towards computer-generated effects, Cronenburg knows the value of his tactile world; the physical creativity involved in the gristle-gun building scene is a fantastic example.
Okay, so virtual reality has been used many times as a concept - and by films that actually came BEFORE the Matrix too - but the totality with which this film portrays its own organic brand of VR is truly engrossing. Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh are utterly watch-able and the chemistry between them is the perfect vehicle to lead an audience through the admittedly gruesome situations the film describes.
There is an element of old-fashioned escapist fantasy in this film that manages to be strangely endearing despite the gore and I suggest that this is where the film triumphs - a triumph that can be attributed to clever writing, intelligent acting and characterisation, a compelling story, charismatic leads, a vivid and disciplined imagination and the discerning use of effects and visual style.
If the Matrix is an `oooh, aaah' sort of film, then this is more an `oooh, eeugh' movie - but don't allow the glare of the Matrix to dull your senses to the darker appeal of eXistenZ.
helpful•24743
- dbignell
- Jul 13, 2000
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Existenz
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $15,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,856,712
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $810,262
- Apr 25, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $2,856,712
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
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![Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh in eXistenZ (1999)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmU1MTJkYWItMzM5Ny00NDgxLTgxOGEtNTkzNDdkZjkwNGI0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDk3NzU2MTQ@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR1,0,90,133_.jpg)