Sundance 2022: We Met in Virtual Reality (World Cinema Documentary Competition) | Review
Presented in the World Cinema Documentary Competition of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Joe Hunting’s We met in virtual reality is an unexpectedly charming and touching virtual journey, directed by a highly skilled and sensitive documentarian.
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival is in full swing, and we are delving into this year’s exciting program. One of the titles we are particularly anticipating was We met in virtual reality, a documentary written, directed, filmed and edited by first time feature filmmaker Joe Hunting. The film received its World Premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition section of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and turned out to be an impressive debut by Joe Hunting.
We met in virtual reality is a one-of-a-kind object. It was born from filmmaker Joe Hunting’s exploration of VRChat, a social media based on virtual reality, allowing people to create avatars, interact, and live an endless collection of social VR experiences. Director Joe Hunting filmed We met in virtual reality inside VRChat, as he met and engaged with other users experiencing life virtually.
And this is where the ride begins. The film walks us through a lot of different virtual environments: from a dance class taking place in the desert, to a billiard room, a night club, an emotional piano concert, or even to a safari among dinosaurs. Even though the film uses the creativity and endless environments accessible through the platform to craft an entertaining, relatively fast-paced journey, it goes deeper than just this. The film does not only settle for showing the amount of experiences people can try, much more easily than in real life, but centers on the exploration of the nature of the relationships that users get to build in this virtual space.
We met in virtual reality turns out to be surprisingly touching and profound. Through their avatars, the director meets users who engage in honest conversations about their feelings, and the reasons why they feel so comfortable in this virtual environment. Indeed, what comes to the fore in Joe Hunting’s exploration of this space are several core values shared by the users: self-expression, inclusion, and solidarity. All of them leading to sometimes poignant stories of pure friendships and true love. One of the characters acknowledges that she found the strength and support she needed to overcome her real life mental health issues, in her community of users, to whom she virtually teaches sign language. Another user explains how teaching dance in virtual reality helped her get out of her alcohol issues. Without mentioning the various sincere and touching love stories which started in this virtual world.
What transpires from life in VRChat is a life where people are way more likely to express their true selves than in real life, where they feel valued, and treat others with respect, and where they create meaningful memories. In this regard, by highlighting this safe space which is VRChat, and how people manage to blossom in this utopia with no prejudice nor judgement, the film successfully mirrors the main difficulties we all experience in real life.
Finally, what’s most compelling about We met in virtual reality is how director Joe Hunting manages to craft this unique experience. The film comes up with a new cinematic language. First time feature filmmaker Joe Hunting successfully uses a virtual “direct cinema” approach. Just like in a typical reality grounded documentary, he gets closer and closer to his characters, engages them in insightful and moving conversations, and gets them to reflect on their virtual life. It is clearly the birth of a highly skilled and sensitive documentarian, who masters the art of storytelling. The impressively accurate editing being another touch to this very well executed work.
Overall, with creativity, sensitivity, and grand beauty, We met in virtual reality explores how the virtual social space is a fertile ground for the best of human nature.
Grade: 4.5/5
