We Met in Virtual Reality – The Power of Community (Early Review)

Community can be a powerful thing and much of the world has needed it especially the last few years during the COVID-19 pandemic that left large parts of the world population isolated from one another. In spite of these circumstances, countless communities have still found a way to come together to support and uplift one another to get through the roughest moments of the pandemic. But that being said, they were still important before the pandemic and will continue to be long after the world finally moves on. We Met in Virtual Reality is a documentary that puts an interesting twist on the topic by being fully-shot within a virtual reality game called VR Chat. Players around the world have turned to the game as a means to seek connection and to belong in a infinitesimal virtual world where they can just be themselves, unshackled by the constraints of society and their everyday lives. Oozing in charm and heart, the film takes viewers on a roller coaster over the course of its sub 90-minute running time. Running the gamut in terms of its wide range of players and what the game means to them, it is at times touching, heartfelt, and hilarious.

Originally released in 2014, VR Chat is a virtual reality game where players can create their own avatars and worlds in which they can interact with other avatars. Through its hordes of avatars and created worlds, countless communities have spawned, representing a vast array of causes. Watching players and their wacky avatars come together is incredibly heartwarming. Despite not knowing who other players are or look like in real life, there is still a sense of kinship there as personality is what ultimately wins out thus giving them a chance at a fresh start. Through the lens of a select number of players including a sign language instructor and her deaf sign language instructor friend, a couple from Miami and London, and an American dance instructor and her Canadian boyfriend, viewers are treated to their evolving stories inside and outside the game. Meanwhile, viewers will also learn the importance of the game and how it brought them together and keeps them together in the midst of the added struggle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bringing plenty to the table, one can’t help but think of how much else was there to cultivate though there were perhaps valid reasons for it production-wise.

In the end, We Met in Virtual Reality makes the most out of its circumstances to deliver a grounded and relatable exploration of the human condition that will almost likely not be for everyone. The premise and the world in which the film takes place may be on the silly side but it is not the point and merely a means to a much larger end. While it doesn’t all work, it is at least interesting.

still courtesy of Warnermedia

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.