eXistenZ

R

Released Apr 23, 1999

1 hr. 37 min.

Sci-Fi

List

75%

76 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Video game designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has created a virtual reality game called eXistenZ. After a crazed fan attempts to kill her, Allegra goes on the run with Ted (Jude Law), a young businessman who falls into the role of bodyguard. In an attempt to save her game, Allegra implants into Ted's body the video game pod that carries a damaged copy of eXistenZ. Allegra and Ted engage in a series of experiences that blur the lines between fantasy and reality.

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Critics Consensus

Gooey, slimy, grotesque fun.

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lolDDOSS

David Cronenberg makes a 90s cool movie in this one broh. flesh guns and reality checks

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/11/24

Full Review

Jacob B

The premise is interesting, the actors are game and those are some damn fine, memorable-looking props that remind you just whose movie this is but, I don't know, there's something about eXistenZ that felt off to me that prevented me from truly getting into it. Maybe it's the pacing or the execution of the storytelling. And this is only my second Cronenberg film after A History of Violence so I can't boil it down to "his other body horror films were better". Maybe the mind screw aspects didn't impress me. Or maybe I'm just a dumbass who doesn't get subtle themes and needs The Wachowskis to hold my hand or something. Look, I respect the people who like this and, hell, even prefer it over the more popcorn-friendly Matrix but I really didn't get as sucked into the story as I was hoping for.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/24

Full Review

Maya L

Captures the feeling of a dream so perfectly.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

Full Review

David W

Starting off slow but quickly building engagement by the second act, eXistenZ, pronounced "exis-tenz" in the film, explores what happens when it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish between gameplay and reality. Well cast and demonstrating the body horror and sci-fi credentials David Cronenberg is known for, the film is a fun ride. I would definitely watch this again.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/24

Full Review

Steve D

Completely ridiculous dispute the cast.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/22/23

Full Review

Warren C

Nice layering, organic gaming at its best!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/19/23

Full Review

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David Cronenberg

Director

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Allegra Geller

Jude Law

Ted Pikul

Willem Dafoe

Gas

Ian Holm

Kiri Vinokur

Don McKellar

Yevgeny Nourish

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Danny Leigh

Financial Times

What we have here is a witty sci-fi teaser built around the coming wave of deep immersion gaming.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 26, 2020

Full Review

J. Hoberman

The New York Review of Books

It's striking that eXistenZ, a send-up of computer games that parodied The Matrix avant la lettre, and one of the great underappreciated movies of the late 1990s, yields the richest trove of relics.

Mar 8, 2019

Full Review

Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

eXistenZ - both Allegra's latest beta release and David Cronenberg's dizzying B-movie - makes the different textures of game, film and life increasingly difficult to tease apart.

May 21, 2018

Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Cronenberg's meditation on gaming and simulation has a tinge of Y2K hysteria, but its philosophical questioning of the impact on our humanity is very welcome and low-fi compared to other films of the time. Also: Jennifer Jason Leigh devours this role.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 24, 2024

Full Review

Kevin Carr

Fat Guys at the Movies

Bizarrely prescient and dripping in paranoia, this is Cronenberg’s last great effort into speculative fiction.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 3, 2024

Full Review

Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

...this 1999 David Cronenberg masterpiece is one of the unheralded sci-fi classics of that decade.

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Video game designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has created a virtual reality game called eXistenZ. After a crazed fan attempts to kill her, Allegra goes on the run with Ted (Jude Law), a young businessman who falls into the role of bodyguard. In an attempt to save her game, Allegra implants into Ted's body the video game pod that carries a damaged copy of eXistenZ. Allegra and Ted engage in a series of experiences that blur the lines between fantasy and reality.

Director: David Cronenberg
Screenwriter: David Cronenberg
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 23, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.8M
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital

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