“Obex” Is A Surreal Journey Dealing With Grief, Cicadas, and a Digital Demon

Courtesy of Lightbulb Film Distribution

“Haunted by his past and the constant buzz of seemingly every single cicada in existence, Conor Thomas Marsh not only has to save his dog from an evil demon - but regain control of something much larger in the process.”Not being familiar with his previous works such as Tux and Fanny or Strawberry Mansions (which are dreamlike fantastical movies in and of themselves), Obex - for the most part - has arrived as a very refreshing fusion of the science fiction and fantasy genres.

On the one hand, I’m really glad I blindly stepped into director (and writer) Albert Birney’s latest surreal film about a man and his best friend. Well, let me rephrase that. A man, his best friend - and the man’s entire world as he knew it. Let me explain.Set in the late 1980’s, Conor’s world is a very small one. Played by Birney, the man we see is quite eccentric, quite reclusive and just very odd. He gets perturbed if the right type of cheese is not delivered to his door step by his neighbor Mary, seemingly makes some kind of living by recreating photographs of people using ASCII art for five dollars a pop (one of his few ways in connecting with the outside world) and has a vast collection of recorded television programs on VHS tape - which he watches with the help of three televisions stacked on top of one another.

He lives alone in his small house, strung together by these quiet, innocent ventures. This snapshot of his life - which we are graciously allowed to enter - is brought to us in black and white. Such a bland but blatant choice not only represents his current mundane life but it also slyly helps in putting the spotlight on the antagonist of the film - a digital demon called Ixaroth.

With this in mind, the lack of color intensifies the reverberating, glitch-like aura surrounding the creature. This is especially apparent the very first time that this fiend is on the screen. There’s something surprisingly chilling about mixing an otherwise classic color scheme with an intimidating, bodily static. Now, don’t get me wrong about something.

It’s very much just a person underneath all of the cinematic magic, but Obex flawlessly pulls off this one of a kind monster-in-a-gilly-suit without a problem. The final design of this otherworldly fiend is deceptively simple and also just bizarre enough to send an uncomfortable shiver down your spine.

This ninety minute movie undoubtedly beats irregularly in terms of storytelling - both in main character and in overall execution. Pacing feels erratic. It’s slow at times - especially for the first twenty minutes or so - when Conor is moseying around the house doing his solitary tasks. The main character’s overwhelming anxiety towards the cicada infestation in his backyard is especially unnerving.  Then, we have dream sequences where the ghost of his mother jumpscares the audience by temporarily transforming into the hideously evil dognapper in the back seat of a car. Conor’s journey ramps up for a bit when has to trek into the unknown land - new characters, new surroundings and new items - but only slows down again with a traveling montage that ironically reminds us of video game loading times (just like those from the distant past). A constant high and low. Halfway through, I was convinced that Obex was trying to be a slow-burn, tech-savvy horror movie of some sort.

Obex does succeed where it matters the most though. Even with a small budget, a rather minimal cast and locales that all look like they’re not actually from a far land, the man and his dog motif smoothly expands into a man and his entire world type of tale. While showing us a cyber adventure with swords, fairies and human-sized cicada minions, Conor also ends up facing his own demons and traumas in the process.

Whether it’s having to let go of cushy memories from his father in order to forge his own path, breaking free from the comfortable lies told to him by his mother or confronting a worrisome future about his own beloved animal, the latter half of this movie becomes surprisingly heavy for our sudden sword-clad introvert. Surreal imagery starts to take hold more and more.

Unfortunately, the climax fails to reach the same peak as those aforementioned promising moments. The call back to 1980s video games and 8 bit graphics takes precedence instead of any sort of realistic and redeeming sequence for Conor. In the movie, Obex is a game so that defining, singular momentary transition to a more video game-like display does make sense technically  - but the lead up was filled with real life trauma - so, the two elements just don’t end up meshing that well together.The beginning was cryptic, mysterious and fun. The middle had moments of inspired creativity which cannot be understated. The ending of Obex brings us back to a man and his dog - who now both have a new lease on life.

But even here, in these closing moments - I feel as though Conor should have had even more character growth, perhaps seeing Mary in person for once would have accomplished this or even a scene that sees Conor walking into a lively neighborhood with Sandy by his side.I will give Obex a 3.5 out of 5.

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Obex is now available on Blu-Ray as well as various digital platforms such as Apple TV, Prime Video, Fandango and Hoopla.