Directed by Noam Argov and written by Sappir Argov, seventeen year-old Adam is forced to confront where his virtual persona ends, and his real self begins when he decides to finally meet his VR girlfriend in real life. Starring: Taj Cross, Jesse LaTourette and Will Dagger.
It’s safe to say that Noam Argov dives right into that VR world and the design of the game is well done, it’s a strong transition to then crash Verse down to earth as Adam (Taj Cross) returns to reality. That switch from virtual to real immediately symbolises everything that Sappir Argov has to say with this short; the confidence and security which comes with online anonymity versus the insecurity and messiness of reality.
What Verse does particularly well is to highlight how a virtual world with its faceless fantasies and reset buttons provide escapism but also without balance, can also serve to worsen anxiety, isolation and nervousness. Something that’s heightened even further in youth, but does affect people of all ages, that youth is something Argov brings through the direction and the atmosphere. Adam’s naivety is palpable, something that’s particularly well exemplified by his scrolling through ‘dating advice’ from social media, filled with such toxic masculinity and ‘alpha’ mentality, having zero idea of what a woman actually wants and misleading countless young men.
That’s one of several hot button issues that Verse touches upon, although it doesn’t really get a chance to explore them very far. It’s a shame as there’s some veins, particularly when it comes to online behaviour rooted in violence, and how it should not be underestimated, which were definitely worth unpacking further. A little bit of that time dedicated to intimacy could have potentially been used instead to tackle the deeper layers at work.
However, the anxiety and insecurity of Adam is well portrayed by Taj Cross. He does a terrific job of capturing the sensitive nature, and the defensiveness, an inability to relax and just be himself, afraid of rejection. Whereas Jesse LaTourette’s Sam shows us the other side of that coin, a young woman who enjoys the virtual world but wants to experience the real one, comfortable in her own skin, which in fairness is a pretty rare quality for a teenage girl, and refreshing to see here.
Verse captures how virtual worlds can provide fantastic escapes from the pressures of real life but can in turn create pressures of their own. There are a lot of relevant issues at work within this short, and there isn’t quite time to do justice to them all, but Sappir Argov manages to touch upon a lot of key points in this conversation of online behaviour and self-confidence. Noam Argov does a great job of mixing that virtual reality with Adam’s everyday life, the virtual world is well crafted and pairs well with Stefan Nachmann’s captivating cinematography in the real life scenes. There’s an authentic awkwardness, it taps directly into youthful anxiety, and while it might not reach its full potential, it does have plenty to say.
FilmCarnage.com 