Oscilloscope debuted the official trailer for OBEX, a science fiction film set in a retro, black-and-white world circa pre-internet 1987. Written, directed, and starring Albert Birney, the film also features Callie Hernandez and Frank Mosley.
Birney’s films are known for marrying analog aesthetics, soundscapes, and deeply personal fantasy, and OBEX carries forward that DNA while pushing into new emotional territory.
OBEX premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and has gone on to play at other festivals including RiverRun, Sydney, Munich, Chicago Critics, Fantasia, and Vancouver.
It opens in theaters on January 9, 2026, via Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Here is the official synopsis: In pre-internet 1987, Conor and his dog Sandy live a life of seclusion, lost in the slow-rendering graphics of early Macs and televisions aglow with late night horror movie marathons. But when he begins playing OBEX, a new and mysterious, state-of-the-art computer game, he finds himself trapped in a low-tech, but high-stakes analog hellscape as the line between reality and game blurs.
Audacious and uncanny, writer-director Albert Birney’s OBEX is a delightfully skewed lo-fi fantasy. Shot in striking black and white, this surreally nostalgic nightmare revisits the dawn of personal computing to reflect on the loneliness of our always-online present day.
On the genesis of the film, and his thought process, Albert Birney said, “When I make movies, I try to be open to images and objects that come into my life. I think if you can open yourself up to the universe, or whatever you want to call it, and you’re searching for things with meaning, the stories will find you.”
The Curb, in a review, praised OBEX as “… a masterpiece of imagination and adventure which is filled with an earnest humanity. Co-written and shot by the fantastic Pete Ohs, OBEX is an 8-bit fantasy and a true hero’s journey for its anxiety riddled and agoraphobic protagonist.”
Watch the official trailer for OBEX above.
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