OBEX follows Conor, played by Albert Birney (also the writer and director of the film), a thirty something recluse whose world revolves around two things, computer games and his beloved dog, Sandy (played by his own dog, Dorothy). When Sandy mysteriously disappears, Conor is forced to enter the dark fantasy realm of the game OBEX itself. To rescue her, he must confront a demon named Ixaroth and survive a journey that blurs the line between reality and imagination.
As OBEX prepares to release on various VOD platforms in Australia on March 11, Nick L’Barrow spoke with Albert Birney about using the nostalgia of the 80s for his story, and the experience of working with his canine co-star.
Nick: I can see behind you, like myself, that physical media means a lot to you. And in the film, I was impressed by Conor’s own VHS collection. What role has physical media played in your life?
Albert Birney: You know, for as long as I’ve been a fan of movies and a fan of music, I’ve been a collector. Both my parents are collectors. My dad has a big music collection, records and tapes. I have all of his cassette tapes now. There’s just something, you know, in the act of holding the thing in your hands and opening it up. Whether it’s a cassette tape and you get to read the liner notes, or if it’s a movie and you can read the back and the quotes. It all stamps from that feeling as a kid of going to the video store and seeing all of these VHS tapes and having your mind blown by all of the covers and posters. And I think it’s just been about chasing that high all these years later.
Nick: That nostalgic feeling plays a lot into OBEX. I’m curious to know how you found the balance of using nostalgia in a celebratory way and a narrative way?
AB: With OBEX, there actually wasn’t much of a script when we started. It was kind of an outline of 20 scenes that we could film. And all of those scenes were about a character who wasn’t leaving their house who was obsessed with their screens, whether it was a TV or computer. The character then just developed out of the idea of what if it was 1987 and never left the house. Then when he starts playing this game, it kind of comes to life. And with me playing Conor, the character is not too different to myself. There’s a few differences, but it was a character that was very close to my heart. And I think that nostalgic feeling comes from the idea that I can be very happy staying at home with my tapes and my games and my dog.
Nick: I think that’s something a lot of modern audiences can resonate with. And I found this story quite easy to emotionally invest in and resonate with because of Sandy [played by Dorothy, Albert’s own dog]. It made me curious to know how different this story may have been if Conor’s quest was going on a quest to save Mary, rather than Dorothy. Did that idea ever cross your mind?
AB: We adopted Dorothy, who plays Sandy, around the time when the project was starting to first show itself to me. And right away I was like, “If Conor has this dog who he’s talking to, we’re just gonna root for Conor”. That exploded the whole concept for me. I can’t even imagine if the dog wasn’t in it. It doesn’t seem like it works for me if he’s saving Mary. I guess because we’ve seen that before, and it feels less pure in a way. Like, the love of a dog is so pure. They’re so innocent. It’s that thing where you would just do anything for your beloved pet, you know? So yeah, that was always there from the beginning. And I’m very glad that’s what we decided to do because I think if we hadn’t, I wouldn’t be talking to you about this movie right now!
Nick: I love the line in the film where Conor wonders how they got the dog in Lassie to do everything it did. And that reminded me of the film Good Boy that came out last year, and the incredible dog performance in that! Dorothy is so great in this, too – what was the filming experience like with her?
AB: Yeah, I saw Good Boy and I was blown away by all the little things they got that dog to do! I would love to see a making-of for that. With Dorothy, it wasn’t too difficult because we kept it very similar to her natural day-to-day routine. We filmed it in the house where she lives – where I live. Our crew was very small, just one other person. And so, in her mind, it was just a very normal Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon! If we needed her to do the same thing over and over, she was happy to do it. She takes direction really well! I definitely had some treats ready as well in case she needed a little extra coaxing.
Nick: The film leans heavily into surrealism, which I feel lends itself quite naturally to the horror elements of the film. But I’m curious to know how you found blending surrealism into the drama and comedy of the film?
AB: I’ve always been drawn to surrealist movies and art. I remember being like, I don’t know, 12 years old, and discovering Salvador Dali’s paintings and just becoming obsessed. My first art book, which my grandmother bought me, was a Salvador Dali art book. And I don’t know why it spoke so much to me. I think just seeing worlds that are imagined – these fantasy worlds and characters and creatures. And growing up with movies like The Neverending Story and Labyrinth. They’re just so fantastical. It’s like magic. I love the mining of dreams and nightmares and visions for art making. Looking at the things deep inside of us, and often those can be surreal places or liminal spaces. That’s the joy of movie making for me, is creating these worlds.
Nick: OBEX is the game that the film centres around, and I loved that sense of discovery that Conor has about finding out about the game in a magazine and ordering it to his house. I’m curious to know – what was your OBEX growing up?
AB: I think maybe the original Zelda, you know? When I got the Nintendo, I had a couple of games, but at that time, you didn’t know what the best games were. And then this came out with like a gold cartridge. So I saved up some money mowing laws or something, and I bought the gold cartridge version and I played it, and I played it, and I played it. Then I discovered the Nintendo Power issues which has maps and stuff. I actually replayed it a couple of years ago, and it was just as fun as it was when I was eight years old. And it wasn’t like I was anticipating it back then. I think even by the time I bought it, it had already been out for a few years. But it was all word of mouth back then. You didn’t know too much about the games when you would play them.
Thank you to Albert for his time, and to Lightbulb Film Distribution and Walkden Publicity for organising the interview. You can watch the full interview on YouTube. OBEX is available in Australia on various VOD platforms from March 11.
