A Film’s Greatest Strength is its Secrets
Netflix’s Immortality is an interactive film by Sam Barlow and published by Half Mermaid Productions. The plot is told in a non-chronological format about an actress, Marissa Marcel (played by Manon Gage), who starred in three unpublished films. The films were never published and the player must find out why.
Though it seems interesting, this was the first chink in the armor of why Immortality doesn’t work for me. It’s a great interactive film, but it isn’t a good game. After all, as a gamer, I expect a video game, not a film.
The gameplay is simple and boring. Players chose a film clip at the beginning of the game, clicking on various faces and objects, which reveal more film reels. The point is not to collect all clips however (unless you’re hunting for the Cinephile achievement).
After a certain point of clicking on random faces and objects, that gimmick proves useless. The real gameplay is rewinding clips. If you rewind the clips at that moment, you’ll get an overlapped image. If you play with the reversal keys, that overlapped image will eventually come to the forefront, and you’ll see someone unknown.
This… is what happened to Marissa.
Otherworldly Deities
There are two forces called The One and The Other. Charlotta Mohlin plays The One and Timothy LeeDePriest plays the Other One. Both look otherworldly in a Nordic way. They have prominent eyes, high cheekbones, pale skin and paler hair.
The two entities can possess humans, though it’s implied that the original human dies. They are not immortal and can die, seemingly by burning. The One possessed Marissa because of their love of humans and, in turn, humanity’s proclivities towards sex, violence and art. The Other does not care for humans, viewing them as separate from the immortal entities.
At some point, The One becomes Marissa Marcel and goes on to act in three films: Ambrosio, based on the gothic novel The Monk by Matthew Lewis; Minsky; and Two of Everything. But can an immortal being exist within a human without things going awry?
To Burn, Endlessly
You won’t find ending spoilers here, though the final film clip is easily obtained. It was disappointing how quickly you could see it. The devs should have made it accessible after viewing all the secret clips.
I have two big disappointments with Immortality one, the lack of diversity; two, the lack of interactability. In terms of diversity, Manon Gage, Charlotta Mohlin, Timothy LeeDePriest and Hans Christopher are all white actors. The cast in which no one looks like me is upsetting and tiring. Immortality is a tale not intrinsically tied to race, especially with the concept of The One and The Other One. If every actor was black, would the story change? No. So why make everyone white?
Interactability Is the Name of the Game
Films are the least interactable forms of media. In books, you can vividly imagine details left out by the author and walk alongside the characters, while in video games, you are the character, determining each step and action. In films, however, everything is set in stone, and nothing is influenced. Audiences are voyeurs looking into moments in characters’ lives.
Immortality makes one feel like a voyeur even when being directly addressed. The player is never Marissa Marcel or The One. The player is an invisible detective tasked with unveiling a mystery. It is not engaging because not once is the player an actor in the films. It is a beautiful film with an interesting story, but I am hard-pressed to call this a video game.
Sam Barlow made a beautiful interactive film. There is no doubt about his skill level or ability to create intriguing storylines. I hope, sooner rather than later, Barlow becomes a film director. Immortality was, after all, an excellent film, not a video game.
