Sundance: Surreal Fantasy ‘Obex’ Sells to Oscilloscope Laboratories (EXCLUSIVE)

Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired North American rights to “Obex” following its debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The surreal, black-and-white fantasy film was directed by Albert Birney (“Strawberry Mansion”) who wrote the script with Pete Ohs (“Jethica”). Birney also stars in the film.

The film was widely praised for its imagination and style, with Variety calling it “entrancing and singular” and comparing it favorably to “I Saw the TV Glow.” It follows Conor Marsh (Birney), a man living a secluded life with his dog, Sandy, until one day he begins playing Obex, a new, state-of-the-art computer game. When Sandy goes missing, the line between reality and game blurs, and Conor must venture into the strange world of Obex to bring her home.

The producing team includes Birney, Ohs, Emma Hannaway and James Belfer, the founder and CEO of production company Cartuna. “Obex” marks the company’s third collaboration with Birney, having also produced “Sylvio” and “Strawberry Mansion.” Ley Line, the company behind “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “The Green Knight,” also worked with Birney on “Strawberry Mansion.” Callie Hernandez (“Under the Silver Lake”) and Frank Mosley (“Freeland”) co-star in the movie.

In addition to directing six films, Birney also served as an animator on Sundance gem “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” and has acted in “I Saw the TV Glow,’ which also premiered at the fest.

“I’ve long been captivated by the unique and thought-provoking films released by Oscilloscope Laboratories,” Birney said. “Their discerning taste and dedication to supporting independent voices deeply resonates with me and collaborating with them on ‘Obex’ is an absolute honor.”

“’Obex’ is dreamy, nostalgic, frightening and completely defies classification,” Andrew Carlin, theatrical distribution head at Oscilloscope Laboratories added. “It worms its way into your brain like an 8-bit video game you can’t stop playing. Suffice it to say we were completely dazzled by what Albert and his team pulled off. It’s filmmaking at its purest. Bringing ‘Obex’ to theaters across North America is going to be one of our great joys of 2025.”

Oscilloscope Laboratories has previously released Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Wendy and Lucy” and Matthew Rankin’s “Universal Language.” The latter won the inaugural Audience Award at the independent sidebar at Cannes. The film will open in theaters on Friday.

The deal for “Obex” was negotiated by Aaron Katz, vice president of acquisitions at Oscilloscope Laboratories, with Lorna Lee Torres, senior vice president of global sales at Magnify, representing the filmmakers.

Magnify handles global sales and is selling the film at EFM. Birney is repped by Fusion Entertainment.