2025 Sundance Film Festival Movie Review: OBEX
Albert Birney returns to the Sundance Film Festival following his 2021 film Strawberry Mansion with OBEX, a lo-fi, science fiction film.
Set in 1987, OBEX follows Conor (Birney), a recluse who only lives with his dog Sandy. Conor spends his days in front of a screen. He has a trio of TVs in his living room, a TV and computer monitor in his bedroom, and he even watches TV while in the bathtub. To make a little money he creates people’s portraits using various keys on his keyboard, like periods, slashes, and colons. He gets his groceries delivered by a friendly woman named Mary (Callie Hernandez), though he never goes outside to see her, and the only time he gets some air is when he takes Sandy outside.
While reading a tech magazine, Conor sees an ad for a new game called OBEX and orders it. The following day, Sandy goes missing and the line between reality and the game starts to blur
Birney steps away from the bright, pastel colors that shined bright on the screen in Strawberry Mansion and his various animated films and utilizes a more monochrome color scheme in OBEX, shooting it in black and white. The production design of Conor’s house is detailed and unique. His house is very narrow and boring and has a lot of technical equipment all over the place. This all helps show Conor’s view of the world is very basic. Only plain colors, and nothing exciting in his house, and even when he goes over the game world, everything is still in the monochromatic color scheme because Conor has one mission only: save Sandy.
OBEX is a hypnotic film to watch. Birney is compelling as Conor and watching his lonely life is both sad and interesting. He never seems sad but you can sense he wants to take the next step, literally and figuratively, in his life. Conor’s house is surrounded by cicadas and the buzzing sounds of the bug act as the film’s main score but also sounds like a TV when the signal goes out. Conor is also suffering from trauma from the death of his mother and we see this in dream sequences he has that would make the late David Lynch proud. And even with the dream-like imagery, weird moments, and late ’80s setting, OBEX still has a strong message about stepping away from the screens and putting yourself out there, a message that rings very true in today’s screen-obsessed world.
OBEX is another sci-fi gem from Birney. His filmmaking and acting have gotten stronger since Strawberry Mansion and he still brings a crafty imagination and strong, relevant themes. I can’t wait to see where he takes us next.
OBEX premiered in the NEXT category at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
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