One of VR's finest movies now available for Meta Quest 2
The award-winning VR film End of Night was previously only shown at festivals. Now it's available for Meta Quest. A PC VR release will follow later.
Inspired by true events, End of Night tells the story of a young man who flees the Nazis with his Jewish family.
In the 50-minute film, we sit with the aged man in a rowboat and begin a journey through his memories of that fateful night when, decades earlier, he tried to escape to Sweden with his loved ones.
Danish director Oliver Adler used photogrammetry to digitally capture streetscapes, spaces and people. The fragmentary material and grainy black and white characterize the visual style and reflect the memorial nature of the story.
End of Night is an impressive VR experience
End of Night won the Golden Lion for "Best Narrative" when it premiered at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival and went on to screen at a number of other festivals (Cannes, Tribeca).
Now the VR film for Meta Quest has been released on App Lab, making it available to a wider audience. End of Night costs $2.99 and is well worth the price if you enjoy VR movies or want to experience something different in VR.
A PC VR version will follow later on Steam. You can already add the VR film to your wishlist there.
The Quest version fully captures the power of this VR film
I had a quick look at the Quest version. The PC VR version seemed more spatial to me at the time if my memory doesn't deceive me. However, this does not detract from the visual and narrative impact.
One surprise for me was that this is a volumetric film: The image doesn't move with you as you move around the room, as it does in 360-degree films. This makes the action seem more immediate and real.
What's missing is an option to jump to specific chapters of the film. If you pause and leave the app, you have to start at the beginning again. This is annoying in a VR film that lasts almost an hour. However, the omission of this feature may have been intentional: The VR film is most effective when experienced in one sitting.
End of Night is available in English and Danish, with subtitles in English, German, French and Hebrew. The making-of featurette is a great bonus.
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