By Karen Reyes
Vertiginous (Le Vertige) can best be described as a return to early 2000s video game graphics. Think clunky and angular and nostalgic—all things that give director Quentin Dupieux’s animated feature its unique charm. This 67-minute film screened at Fantastic Fest 2026 and is a tongue-in-cheek, satirical take on the decades-old theory that we live in a simulation. Jacky (Alain Chabat) desperately tries to convince his friend Bruno (Jonathan Cohen) that their lives are not real, showing him different “bugs” and glitches in their world that are inexplicable.
While this film doesn’t introduce any new angles or particularly groundbreaking perspectives on the theory, it embraces the purposely awkward and intentionally artificial design of its world to tell a deeper story. Movies like The Matrix (1999) cemented the simulation theory in pop culture and have become synonymous with strange, unexplained experiences, giving people a word for the possibility of a world beyond what we know. Vertiginous, however, adds another layer to this concept: the strange relationship between people and technology. Its commentary on society’s readiness to accept new technology without question is highlighted by the contrast between the complex idea of “visiting” the other side of the simulation using new technology and the raw feel of the world and character design.
The plot itself is the least impressive part of this film, though it’s enough to keep the viewer engaged until the end. Instead, it’s the voice acting and the particularly meta feeling that stand out and make this movie worth a watch. The expressive tones and emotion in Chabat and Cohen’s voices create the sense that there are people stuck inside of these clumsy, animated bodies. Along with philosophical discussions, there’s an abundance of comedy in the dialogue that maintains a lighthearted energy despite the uncanny self-awareness in Jacky and Bruno. It’s the sort of film you can’t look away from for fear of missing something just underneath the surface.
Vertiginous doesn’t ask you to choose between the blue pill or the red pill—it offers an in-between perspective that grants the viewer the ability to question how we think about our world and technology. Perhaps it’s with suspicion that there’s someone or something making decisions for us, or a curiosity about worlds beyond ours. Either way, Vertiginous is a fun exploration of the idea that our lives may not be what they seem.