Imagine learning all of a sudden that your suspicions are on target, and the Earth as you know it is actually a computer simulation. Absolutely nothing is real. What would you do? That’s the question posed by sci-fi comedy short Untitled Earth Sim 64.
“Comedy” being the key descriptor there for this very wry short film from writer-director Jonathan Wilhelmsson. Marie (Karen Olrich-White) is just going about her day when everything around her starts glitching with alarming frequency — and suddenly a disembodied voice (James Fraser) lets it slip that her entire reality, including Marie herself, are all part of a not-especially-successful simulation. Naturally, she freaks out… but then she comes to a kind of zen acceptance of the situation.
If you enjoyed Untitled Earth Sim 64 — which Wilhelmsson tells Gizmodo was made “on a shoestring budget during two very hot summer days in Gothenburg” — you can also check out its accompanying making-of video, as well as a VFX breakdown.