audreyann
03-30-25, 07:17 PM
Ben Lucas’ movie OtherLife (2017) is an exciting science fiction thriller that explores the exciting but often dangerous realities of virtual reality (VR). The movie touches on how technology can affect our perception of reality and identity, and it illustrates the complexities of impression management, or how individuals consciously craft their online personas and experiences to impact others’ perceptions and interactions. In the film, the main character creates of a drug-like VR experience called “OtherLife” and then comes to the realization that she must now deal with the ethical repercussions of her invention. Her created offers users’ realistic experiences, compressed into mere seconds in reality, but perceived as days or weeks virtually. This kind of control over experiences mimics impression management in a sense. Just as social media allows users to curate and tweak their public personas, OtherLife offers extreme customization of experiences, showing both the temptation and risk of obsessive impression control. The film also explores the darker consequences from OtherLife's misuse and how they can mimic the real-world dangers of impression management. The film also highlights how easily reality can be distorted when people live in carefully controlled digital worlds by emphasizing how managing impressions too much can harm peoples’ relationships and trust. Ultimately, the movie does a fantastic job pushing viewers to reflect on their own digital decisions. I believe by connecting impression management to its dangerous but possibly thrilling consequences, OtherLife both entertains and makes viewers reconsider how carefully creating a digital identity can shape your relationships and perception of reality itself.