“So Unreal” has an appealing avant-garde flair that perfectly complements its subject matter. This clip compilation documentary is a collage of cyber cinema films that gives a surprising amount of insight into the relationship between art and technology. By putting together short scenes from decades-old movies, some well-known and others that have faded into obscurity, director Amanda Kramer assembles a time capsule of the way pop culture viewed the future in the past.
The film feels overstuffed and is somewhat laborious to sit through, especially when paired with Debbie Harry’s sleepy narration. Her voice is so soothing and monotone, which at least helps calm the barrage of images that are constantly flashing on the screen.
The most engaging parts of Kramer’s documentary are the clips themselves, especially the ones from films that told cautionary tales about the dangers of the very technology that now defines our everyday lives. Classics like “War Games” and “The Matrix” were made at a time when AI and virtual reality were actually frightening ideas as well as a plot device. It’s also a lot of fun to watch bits of films from the 70s and 80s and laugh at how they viewed (and feared) the implications of a cyber world.
Abstract and shrewd, “So Unreal” is not made with a mainstream audience in mind, but cinephiles and fans of science fiction should really get a kick out of it.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 