80s

80s Throwback B&W Nerdy Computer Horror ‘OBEX’ Official Trailer

by Alex Billington
October 2, 2025
Source: YouTube

“Someday we’ll all be living in computers…” That’s for sure. Oscilloscope Labs has unveiled the full trailer for OBEX, a peculiar indie horror fantasy sci-fi creation from the mind of filmmaker Albert Birney (also of Strawberry Mansion). This first premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in the experimental Next section, then played at the RiverRun, Atlanta, Chicago Critics, Sydney, Munich, Fantasia, & Vancouver Film Festivals during the year. Set in the 1980s, Conor Marsh’s secluded life disrupted when he gets a start of the art new game called OBEX which claims to digitize the player and put them into the game. But when he starts playing, his dog Sandy disappears, blurring reality and game. Conor enters the OBEX world to rescue Sandy, navigating its strange realms. A black-and-white surreal fantasy film. Starring Albert Birney as Conor, Callie Hernandez, Paisley Isaacs, Frank Mosley, Tyler Davis, and more. This nerdy little film has such a funky retro vibe, with all the clunky hardware and 8-bit chunkiness from the 80s. It’s a unique & entertaining indie project that I hope cinephiles of all kinds watch out for when it’s in theaters. View below.

Here’s the main official trailer (+ poster) for Albert Birney’s film OBEX, direct from YouTube:

In pre-internet 1987, Conor (starring Albert Birney) and his dog named Sandy live a life of seclusion, lost in the slow-rendering graphics of early Macs and televisions aglow with late night horror marathons. But when he begins playing OBEX, a new and mysterious, state-of-the-art computer game, he finds himself trapped in a low-tech, but high-stakes analog hellscape as the line between reality and game blurs. OBEX is directed by the indie actor / writer / filmmaker Albert Birney, director of the films The Beast Pageant, Sylvio, Tux and Fanny, Strawberry Mansion, and Eyeballs in the Darkness previously. The screenplay is written by Albert Birney and Pete Ohs. Produced by James Belfer, Albert Birney, Emma Hannaway, Pete Ohs. This initially premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year in the Next section, with a stop at the Chicago Critics Film Festival in the summer. Oscilliscope Labs will debut Birney’s OBEX film in select US theaters starting on January 9th, 2026 early next year. So who’s intrigued? Would you play? 💀

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