This is more than a well-animated (though it is extremely well-animated, and the marked contrast in style between the real world and the digital world is impeccable executed) and well-conceived execution of “what if Beauty and the Beast but in VR?” I mean, it is that — this reminds me a bit of the early Makoto Shinkai work where there is a bit of a plot but you don’t really care about the plot, the plot is a vehicle for other interesting things, and I think the “interesting things” in this case is not “a bunch of beautiful shots of rain” but “a surprisingly realistic and mature representation of both the benefits and drawbacks of digital escapism.”

I don’t give a shit about the musical numbers — they were fine? kinda boring? — but had a great time. There were two scenes in particular (what I will describe as the “Civ 6 scene” and the “does that mean you have a crush on me? scene”) that were A++ moments that were worth the price of admission alone.

★★★★