OBEX Trailer: Albert Birney Transports Us To a Vintage Computer Game World

After taking us to the land of dreams in his 2021 feature, Strawberry Mansion, director Albert Birney is back to transport us to a virtual reality from the late ’80s. OBEX, which he co-wrote with filmmaker Pete Ohs (also serving as cinematographer), premiered at this year’s Sundance with audiences and critics praising it for its brilliant low-budget filmmaking and tremendous world-building. It centers on a secluded computer genius (played by Birney) who, after playing the eponymous computer game, finds his world rocked when his beloved dog disappears and enters the game to rescue her. It also stars Callie Hernandez, Frank Mosley, Paisley Isaacs, Tyler Davis, and Birney’s real-life dog Dorothy. Ahead of its release on January 9, 2026, Oscilloscope Laboratories has unveiled the official trailer.

As the official synopsis reads:

In pre-internet 1987, Conor and his dog Sandy live a life of seclusion, lost in the slow-rendering graphics of early Macs and televisions aglow with late-night horror movie 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. Audacious and uncanny, writer-director Albert Birney’s OBEX is a delightfully skewed lo-fi fantasy. Shot in striking black and white, this surreally nostalgic nightmare revisits the dawn of personal computing to reflect on the loneliness of our always-online present day.

I wrote in my Sundance review, “In his sixth feature film, Birney once again succeeds in making a one-of-a-kind film that is absurdist, imaginative, and full of undeniable depth. The balanced black-and-white cinematography from Pete Ohs is the perfect visual for both of these realities that shift tones, even when they are shot in the same color. Even Josh Dibb’s glitch-like score and Matt Giordano’s jarring sound design show how much craft has been put into this film, to effective results. No matter how dark and disturbing things got, the audience at Sundance was cheering and smiling, making this an experience that one would recommend viewing with fellow moviegoers. It goes to show the wonders that low-budget filmmaking can bring when you use your resources wisely. Giving both a committed performance and fresh directing, Albert Birney exceeds expectations at almost every turn. It’ll be exciting to see how far he can go if given a much higher budget. OBEX is a riveting and endearing journey that may not only bring some nostalgia to ‘80s tech kids, but also celebrates the expansiveness of human imagination. No software is needed there.”

Watch the trailer for OBEX below.

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