"Mission Complete"

14 March 2023

5 mins 26s

Game of Life

People behave like real-life Sims in this fascinating short film from Jara Moravec. Your familiarity with the characteristic movements of said game will determine how quickly you cotton onto the conceit, as the main characters bounce slowly in the matter of their fictional counterparts - something which presumably made them feel 'more alive' in early renditions of the game.

A voiceover musing about life and personal freedoms accompanies the visuals, which flit between blocky CG images and their live action avatars. The rumination may be a bit too lofty for some (pondering on whether one can ever really choose to buy lipstick without outside influence), but it brings a philosophical dimension to the visuals.

As habit-building and fitness apps continue to use 'gamification' to hook users, this film interrogates whether it's actually useful to turn desires and life goals into 'mission objectives', and what that means for our sense of personal fulfilment when they're completed. We don't know if there's a trophy or just another loading screen at the end of the game, after all.

UK

Short Film