Your girlfriend codes you into her game—therapy or revenge? You decide.
Zari and Aina are a young couple, orbiting each other but struggling to connect. We first see each of them in their own element: Zari painting to finish a piece for a gallery opening, and Aina coding her own video game designed to increase self-awareness. When Aina makes an effort to connect and Zari shuts her out again, Aina is triggered to send her girlfriend into the video game. In the game, Zari meets different versions of herself and her ego's desires. Ultimately, she has to decide what she's willing to let go of in order to advance to the next level. When the game malfunctions, Aina launches her back into reality and they finally confront each other.
Direction
Dual directors craft seamless reality-to-game transitions in 20 minutes.
Production
DIY afrofuturist aesthetics that punch way above budget class.
Writing
Game mechanics as relationship therapy—actually clever, not cringe.
Director
Celeste O'Connor
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of a wave of Black queer indie sci-fi using technology to explore intimacy when traditional narratives fail us.
Celeste O'Connor directs AND plays Bubbi— the multiverse where they didn't cast themselves contains no joy.
US
