I didn’t know what to expect upon walking into Blur during Venice Immersive, though going through the curtain gives me an immediate sense of unease.
Co-directed by Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg, Blur describes itself as “a new myth for the modern age” focused on how science has changed the way we perceive life and death. Taking a more theatrical approach that involves real actors and a group of ten participants using a Quest 3, this unfolds like an unsettling dreamscape that questions the ethics of cloning, bioengineering, and resurrection.
After walking through the curtain at Venice Immersive, I soon find myself greeted by an actress you’d think was dressed for a funeral in all black. After choosing English as my preferred language for this event, my hand now marked by a pen with the number 10, I waited for my group’s other attendees to join before another actress in red walked through.
It’s immediately clear that this wouldn’t work as a home release; this experience follows a set layout that involves multiple actors. Once we get underway, this guides you across what feels like a labyrinth, and other participants appear like sparkling silhouettes. Getting too close sees them appear in yellow, helpfully warning you to step back before colliding. Going too far off the intended path gives you another warning to move back.
That unsettling feeling never truly fades, never veering into horror, but this leans hard into some messaging about societal collapse. It’s an odd vibe that delivers some more baffling moments, like a woman with sheep heads on the sides of her head dancing for several minutes and splitting into different forms. Even after a week to think on this, I’m still not sure what this moment aims to achieve.
It’s also deeply unsubtle in its messaging, though every so often you need to cut away the ambiguity. For example, one sequence brings up images of real-life protestors as well as the word “coronavirus” repeatedly in a large font. In a post-apocalyptic world designed as a cautionary tale, there’s no guessing needed on what the developers are going for there.
One thing that’s a bit jarring is how Blur moves between a mix of live action footage. You can see 3D models when the actors are participating in a scene, whereas the live action things have a surprisingly low resolution at times. Not to the point where I can’t recognize them, though I would’ve hoped for sharper resolution visuals in these moments.
Going into much more detail would spoil the rest of this, though it’s not something I’ll forget anytime soon. While The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up might be my favorite experience at Venice Immersive 2025, Blur is certainly the strangest. Given all the other surrealist projects recently shown at the event, like Face Jumping, that’s saying a lot.