Spoilers could go for some ascii art.

I almost want to write this one in monospace old style system font. This one is going to require a certain audience familiar with configuring the ports so that your mouse and your printer could work at the same time. We’re going back to the 80’s in style. That is, if that 14,400 baud rate modem can stay connected… Nobody use the phone for the next hour and a half please… Here we go.

OBEX (2025) is directed by Albert Birney who wrote it with Pete Ohs. Conor Marsh (Albert Birney) is an introverted computer enthusiast, subscribed to personal computing magazine and proud self-starter of his own business: He makes punctuation art based on pictures that people send him for 5 bucks. Completely shut-in on his house, his only company is his dog Sandy. One day he decides to take video of himself and sent some pictures to a video game company that promises to create an adventure game using his likeness.

I’d rather let you discover the how and where, but the result is Conor ends up becoming the protagonist of a real life game (no, this is not an isekai) inspired not only by the fantasy but also from his own memories and life experiences. It is not going be a CGI fest, but a rather scaled down trip paying tribute to all the tropes of the classic starting days of the PC gaming revolution, way before the internet and the computer game consoles. If you find the old grating sound of the dot matrix printers triggering, you might want to avoid this one. Nostalgia will be available in spades.

Recommended for the old timers that would get their information from magazines and bulletin boards. This feature is packed with old computer geek nostalgia. It also includes a very obvious message that should resonate even with current shut-in computer users. Worth a watch, but promise to get out and breathe some fresh air after you log off.

That will do for now.