OBEX
| OBEX | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Albert Birney |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Pete Ohs |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Josh Dibb |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Oscilloscope |
Release dates |
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Running time | 90 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $47,724[2][3] |
OBEX is a 2025 American science fiction film written and directed by Albert Birney. It stars Albert Birney, Callie Hernandez and Frank Mosley.
It premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2025. It was released on January 9, 2026 by Oscilloscope.
Plot
Conor Marsh lives a secluded life in Baltimore in 1987, with his dog, Sandy. One day, while reading through a computer magazine, he discovers an advertisement for a video game called OBEX, featuring a demon villain named Ixaroth who devours human souls. Interested, he buys the game, and begins to play it, only to be disappointed with the simple game play of it. That night, he is awaken by the sounds of his printer, and he retrieves a note that reads something is inside his VHS tape collection. He is unable to find the unknown figure in his tape collection. As Conor goes back to sleep, Ixaroth emerges from his television set, and abducts Sandy.
The next morning, Conor learns that Sandy is gone missing, and he goes outside where he finds a Macintosh computer, and is soon sucked into the video game world of OBEX. He enters a store where he meets a woman who runs the shop, and she provides him materials for his journey. As Conor sets off to rescue Sandy, he rescues a television head named Victor from cicada-like figures. Victor then decides to accompany him on his journey. During their journey, they find a car during their journey and, while driving through the night at the Valley of Bones, Conor is attacked by two naked humans who turn into skeletons.
Victor takes a wounded Conor to the store, and they revive him, before proceeding to resume their journey. They finally arrive at Ixaroth's castle, when they find it locked. Unable to infiltrate the castle, they sleep in for the night. The next morning, Conor finds the skeletal remains of Victor, who sacrificed himself to unlock the castle's gates. Conor then proceeds to enter the castle, where he finds himself in a church filled with cicada-like figures. He finds Sandy, imprisoned inside a television set, but Sandy is soon dead just as he was about to rescue him. Conor meets his mother, who shows him a memory book filled with memories of his past when she suddenly disappears.
Ixaroth, who abducted Sandy, confronts Conor at the church, and Conor angrily defeats Ixaroth by killing him with his sword, and soon reconciles with Sandy. It is then revealed that the entire journey was all played in the game, played by Conor, back to his normal life with Sandy now. Conor and Sandy then relax on a beach.
Cast
- Albert Birney as Conor Marsh
- Callie Hernandez as Mary
- Frank Mosley as Victor
Production
In 2020, while Albert Birney was working on an video game adaption of his 2019 animated film, Tux and Fanny, he thought about making a video game that's also a film, before going with a film about a video game after he is unable to imagine what that would look like. The following year, in Baltimore, Birney got a dog named Dorothy to star for him in the film, and bought two old Macintosh computers from a junk shop. Inpatient, Birney filmed cicadas crawling through his garbage can in his backyard. A year later, Birney brought his friend, Pete Ohs, to help work on the film, with Ohs providing the cinematography and sound design. Another year later, the crew required more more actors, costumes, and props. One other person served as a crew member for the second half of the film.[4] Principal photography began on September 2022, taking place in Baltimore, Birney's home town.[5]
Release
OBEX had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2025.[6] In February 2025, Oscilloscope acquired distribution rights to the film.[7] It was released on January 9, 2026.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 50 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A beguiling odyssey that offsets its scrappy production values with sumptuously analog production, OBEX is a wildly inventive riff on the digital world."[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[9]
References
- ^ "Obex (15)". British Board of Film Classification. January 21, 2026. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ "OBEX". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ^ "OBEX – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ^ Wakeman, Gregory (January 7, 2026). "Albert Birney on Making Indie Films Outside Hollywood". FilmFreeway. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ The Baltimore Sun (February 10, 2026). Inside OBEX with Baltimore Filmmaker Albert Birney. Event occurs at 1:50. Retrieved March 20, 2026 – via YouTube.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 11, 2024). "Sundance 2025: JLo, Sly Stone, Putin, Ayo Edebiri, André Holland, & Ex-NZ PM Jacinda Ardern Films Among Park City Festival Offerings". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
- ^ Keslassy, Elsa; Lang, Brent (February 13, 2025). "Sundance: Surreal Fantasy 'Obex' Sells to Oscilloscope Laboratories (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
- ^ "OBEX". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved February 19, 2026.
- ^ "OBEX". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved February 6, 2026.