The first live-action film from Ghost in the Shell’s director Mamoru Oshii. In a grey, depressing future, young people seek escape from their troubles through the illegal virtual realities of simulated war games. Their real lives must be absolutely miserable, because the game environments they seek solace in are quite bleak and grueling. The heroine Ash is legendary for her mad skillz, and finds herself willing to sacrifice everything (including her cute basset hound) to find and complete the game’s fabled “Class Real” level. Along the way she encounters mysterious characters, who may or may not be bugs in the system. The existentialism and philosophical musings are as heavy as you’d expect from Oshii, and the fact that the cast and locations of this Japanese film are Polish makes it even more disorienting. The visuals are highly inventive, from the drab cell-like apartments, to the retro-futuristic computer interfaces, to the jarring mix of 2- and 3-D elements in the game world. Everything is soaked in sepia tones, making the occasional flashes of vibrant color truly breathtaking. I’ll admit I’m not completely sure what the whole story added up to in the end, but I had a good time studying the parts.

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