Beauty, to borrow a cliché, is in the eye of the beholder. But what if your beholder’s eyes could be hacked? What if yours could? In Reality+, they can be. The short film—from Revenge writer-director Coralie Fargeat—imagines a future where people can buy an implant that allows them to live in an alternative reality where they can be seen as they want to be seen.
Reality+, which you can watch in full above, is set in Paris in the future. In this timeline, those looking for an upgrade can get an implant at the base of their necks that taps into their nervous system and lets them see their reflection however they like. They can change their hair, the shape of their face, their physique—anything. And in the time that their Reality+ implant is activated (it can only be used 12 hours per day), anyone else whose implant is running will see them as they’ve chosen to be seen. Unsurprisingly, most people choose to look like underwear models.
As it ends, Reality+’s message is that, to borrow another cliché, beauty is only skin deep—the essence of a person can’t be seen with the eyes. But it’s kind of a shame that the movie has to end there. The implications of technology that can alter people’s perceptions of themselves and the world is profound. Could it let people experience life as another gender? As someone older or younger? Could criminals use it to mask their identities? Would people use it to impersonate someone else? The questions are endless. Reality+, being a short film, doesn’t have time to answer them. But hey, maybe Fargeat could make a full-length feature?
You can watch the film, which was recently licensed by WIRED, above.
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