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freedom from constraint. Monitored                                  a denouement in which the
               by her colleague Byron (Clarence                                    protagonist concludes it must
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               sport simulations: skydiving, rock
               FOLPELQJ  VQRZERDUGLQJ  6KH                                         ( QD@KKX V@MSDC SN L@JD RTQD SG@S
               reclines in a seat resembling a                                     VD CHCM S L@JD SGD SDBGMNKNFX
               dentist’s chair, a white, rubbery                                   SGD UHKK@HM  3GD ATRHMDRR NE CD-
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               (‘paired’, like a Bluetooth device,                                 UHKK@HM  ( SGHMJ SG@S R LNQD QD@KHRSHB
               with Byron’s computer). Byron                                       ( CN SGHMJ BNLLDQBD FDSR HM SGD
               drips the software into her eye  8LI ÁPQ¸W ZMVXYEP VIEPMX]          V@X NE HMMNU@SHNM  7
               DQG  LQ H[WUHPH FORVH XS  WKH     narrative, as well as its
               EODFN ĻXLG GLVSHUVHV DFURVV KHU  international production history,  One of the most enjoyable things
               cornea. The screen dissolves  situates it within a cosmopolitan     about .SGDQ+HED LV WKDW /XFDV XQ
               LQWR NDOHLGRVFRSH OLNH IUDJPHQWV   strand of Australian genre       derstands the ritualistic pleasure
               WKHQ UHVROYHV  ZH DUH QRZ LQVLGH  ÁPQQEOMRK XLEX MW PIWW            in the genre’s interface between
               a luxurious alpine chalet. We hear  concerned with national         bodies, hardware and software.
               5HQpV ORXG EUHDWKLQJ DQG VHH KHU  identity than with exploring      7KH VQDS WR RSHQ DPSRXOHV
               DUPV ĻH[LQJ H[SHULPHQWDOO\ DV                                       WKH EODFNQHVV RI WKH 2WKHU/LIH
                                               broader philosophical and
               they rest on her legs. In these early                               serum – so reminiscent of the
                                                    ethical concerns.
               adventure sequences, segments                                       alien ‘black oil’ from 3GD 7 %HKDR
               of POV footage mingle with more                                     t DQG WKH VLQXRXV ZKLWH ĺQJHUV
               conventional shots, montaged with the verve of tourism com   RI WKH ((* KHDGVHW DUH DOO FUXFLDO WR WKH FKDUDFWHUVp WUDQVL
               PHUFLDOV  +HOLFRSWHU VKRWV RI 5HQ LQ DFWLRQ  ([WUHPH FORVH   tions between real and virtual worlds.
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               reaction shots of her surveying her surroundings with calm  fateful accident and rouse him from his coma, is at least
               SOHDVXUH  3RZGHU\ VQRZ VSDWWHULQJ WKH OHQV DV VKH ĻDPER\   DV SUREOHPDWLF DV 6DPpV HWKLFDOO\ VKDG\ FRPPHUFLDO DFWLYL
               antly stops her snowboard.                     WLHV  7KH VSLUDOOLQJ SORW WZLVWV WKDW IROORZ 5HQpV HVFDSH IURP
                 But a glitch in the code sends the simulation into a recur   KHU YLUWXDO SULVRQ IRUFH KHU WR FRQIURQW KHU SUHYLRXV VHOĺVK
               VLYH ORRS  5DWKHU WKDQ ZDNLQJ XS LQ KHU RIĺFH  5HQ VHHV KHU  QHVV  KHU FDOORXV WUHDWPHQW RI 'DQQ\  KHU WKHIW RI KHU IDWKHUpV
               RZQ ERG\ EDFN LQ WKH FKDOHW DJDLQ  DQG WKHQ DJDLQ  6L[ GD\V  UHVHDUFK  ZKLFK VKH KDG SDWHQWHG  DQG KHU UHIXVDO WR UHVSHFW
               LQWR D RQH GD\ H[SHULHQFH  WKH VQRZ\ ODQGVFDSH EHJLQV WR  KLV ZLVK WKDW -DUHGpV OLIH VXSSRUW EH VZLWFKHG RII  3DUWLFXODUO\
               GLVWRUW DQG GLVVROYH  5HQ WU\LQJ WR VWDYH RII SDQLF E\ PXWWHU   5HQ KDV UHIXVHG WR FRQVLGHU ZKDW -DUHG KLPVHOI PLJKW ZDQW
               ing to herself, ‘It’s just code. It’s just code.’  6FLHQFH ĺFWLRQ IUHTXHQWO\ GHSLFWV WKRVH LPPHUVHG LQ WHFK
                 /DWHU LQ WKH ĺOP  ZKHQ 5HQ KDV UHOXFWDQWO\ DJUHHG WR EH  nology – whether they be developers, vendors or consumers
               YLUWXDOO\ LQFDUFHUDWHG  /XFDV HQWUDSV WKH YLHZHU LQ D PRUH  t DV ĻDZHG  WUDXPDWLVHG DQG XOWLPDWHO\ YHU\ ORQHO\ LQGLYLGXDOV
               deliberately oppressive series of POV shots. Byron looms  who destroy their ‘real’ intimate relationships in the pursuit of
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               ampoule he’s holding, darkening the entire frame. We spend  SGD 'TL@M !NCX  (URQ 6KHHDQ         LQ SDUWLFXODU  XVHV LWV
               PXFK ORQJHU ZLWK 5HQpV SHUVSHFWLYH WKLV WLPH  VKH VWUHWFKHV  protagonist’s crisis to explore the intersections of trauma, eth
               her legs, touches the prison uniform she now wears, and  LFV DQG LQQRYDWLRQ  *HQHWLFLVW *HRII %XUWRQ  0LFKDHO (NOXQG
               inspects her cell as the camera tilts hesitantly up. As she  who lost his baby son to a rare genetic disease, has built
               registers its smallness, the camera slowly dollies out so that  his entire life around seeking a cure. But when he stumbles
               FHOO DQG RFFXSDQW DSSHDU WLQ\  ĻRDWLQJ ORVW LQ EODFN VSDFH   across a secret virus lab maintained by a creepy colleague,
                                                              he devastatingly ends up becoming patient zero.
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                                                              speculative TV series !K@BJ ,HQQNQ  LV VHW LQ D QHDU IXWXUH LQ
               There’s a faint whiff of expired zeitgeist about .SGDQ+HED,from  which most people have a computer implant (known as a
               LWV ĺQ GH VLÅFOH WHFKQRORJ\ EDVHG SUHPLVH DQG 5HQpV YDJXHO\  oJUDLQp  WKDW UHFRUGV WKHLU ĺUVW SHUVRQ SHUFHSWLRQV IRU ODWHU
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               LQJ t DOO EREEHG HERQ\ KDLU  VORXFK\ PRQRFKURPH RXWĺWV DQG  Whittaker) of having cheated on him, and obsessively combs
               VPRN\ H\H PDNH XS  3HUKDSV WKLV LV D YHVWLJH RI WKH VRXUFH  his – and their – digital memories for evidence. In one de
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               WKH YLUWXDO UHDOLW\ VXEJHQUH  ZKLFK LQFOXGHG WKH ,@SQHW F\FOH  a previous encounter on their respective grains (recalling
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               WKH 2NKHS@HQD adaptation foundered in the wake of competi   his darkened, empty home, compulsively comparing it to the
               WRUV OLNH (MBDOSHNM  &KULVWRSKHU 1RODQ         6  same space during happier times. Of course, we humans will
                 /XFDV ZDV GHWHUPLQHG WR UHVLVW WKH oOD]\p VFLHQFH ĺF   DOZD\V ĺQG ZD\V WR VDERWDJH RXUVHOYHV DQG RQH DQRWKHU  EXW
               tion trope of demonising technology and moving towards   !K@BJ ,HQQNQ’s point is that media technologies enable and




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