History VideoGame / Immortality2022

''IMMORTALITY'' is a FullMotionVideo InteractiveFiction game from Half Mermaid Productions, directed by Sam Barlow of ''VideoGame/HerStory'' and ''VideoGame/TellingLies'' fame, and released in August 2022. It acts as a SpiritualSuccessor to the aforementioned games, where the player is once again tasked with piecing a story together from a given collection of video clips.

** ''Ambrosio'' director Arthur Fisher is a clear analog to Creator/AlfredHitchcock. He has a very similar name, manner of dress and figure, and is noted to be extremely controlling of his actresses. Fisher is also stated to be a once genius director currently suffering a career slump (much like Hitchcock in the late 60s) and ''Ambrosio'' is [[Film/{{Frenzy}} his first film containing nudity]].

''Immortality'' is a FullMotionVideo InteractiveFiction game from Half Mermaid Productions, directed by Sam Barlow of ''VideoGame/HerStory'' and ''VideoGame/TellingLies'' fame, and released in August 2022. It acts as a SpiritualSuccessor to the aforementioned games, where the player is once again tasked with piecing a story together from a given collection of video clips.

* GenreShift: ''Immortality'' presents itself as a relatively mundane mystery where you need to learn about the life and disappearance of Marissa Marcel by reconstructing her movies, reading between the lines of candid shots, and finding the right clips. For example, an early clip has John Durick allude to an accident on the set of ''Minsky'' that led to Marissa's first disappearance, so an early objective might be to find the footage depicting that accident. [[spoiler:The first "hidden clip" reveals the game to be a psychological horror, and the ''actual'' plot to be about the tribulations of two vampire-like immortals who have seemingly existed from the dawn of humankind]].

** [[SnakesAreSinister Snakes]] appear as a motif in all three of the in-universe films - a snake bite in ''Ambrosio'' almost kills the titular character, Olga wears distinctive snake-shaped earrings in ''Minsky'', and a snake-shaped pool-float plays a minor role in ''Two of Everything''. [[spoiler: This hearkens back to the serpent from the [[TheBible Book of Genesis]], which the Other claims to have been responsible for. Both the One and the Other are seen as Adam and Eve in various clips, further hinting at their connection to the Biblical tale. Furthermore, the two immortals could be compared to snakes in the manner in which they hunt and feed on humans by lying in wait to strike.]]
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: The Other pulls this off when he reappears after being [[DeaderThanDead burned to ashes]] some twenty years previously, shocking The One. It turns out that that "dead" immortals can BodySurf into mortals that view footage of the moment of their death, allowing The Other to be reborn as Amy, the girlfriend of John Durick who watched old archive footage of ''Minsky''.]]

* DeaderThanDead: [[spoiler:Any immortal whose body is destroyed by fire...until the age of film comes along, which offers loopholes around even this.]]

* Foreshadowing: Plenty of it, given the way the game's story is presented out-of-order.

* KillItWithFire: Fire is the only thing which can put down [[spoiler: an Immortal]] for good. [[spoiler:Or so they ''thought''. The Other meets his demise after "Carl Greenwood's" body is cremated but manages to come back by hijacking Amy Archer's body after she watches footage of the murder, stunning The One.]]

** [[spoiler:The Immortal race as a whole are heavily implied to be these in tandem with their other powers, given that the vast majority of the reverse clips seem to portray both the One and the Other as interacting with people within the clips in ways that would almost certainly be otherwise impossible or that would not fit within the set timeline of the footage.]] They almost seem to operate on a separate plane of reality from the rest of humanity, but still one that intersects with our own, given that [[spoiler: the One's murder of the Other on the set of ''Minsky'']] still results in consequences for everyone even when no one else can perceive it for what it is, i.e. [[spoiler:the death of Carl Goodman, who the Other had been possessing at the time.]]

* SatanicArchetype: [[spoiler:The One and the Other . They have been compared to angels (much like Lucifer), tempt people to get what they want and their messages can only be found by [[SubliminalSeduction backmasking]], an urban legend straight out of the SatanicPanic. At one point the Other claims that [[Literature/BookOfGenesis the snake and the apple]] were his idea.]]

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: An unfortunate case of RecklessGunUsage on the set of ''Minsky'' [[spoiler:results in the death of Carl Greenwood when Marissa Marcel accidentally shoots him point-blank in the chest. This, understandably, brings the film's production to a tragic end.]] However, [[spoiler: this is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] by viewing the hidden scene in this clip, which reveals that the One (as Marissa) deliberately shot and killed the Other (in Carl's body) - what appeared to be a horrific accident was actually the culmination of a fight between two feuding immortals.]]

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: The real Marissa Marcel was a young French girl raped and murdered by Nazis during the Second World War. The One, having just awoken from one of her decades-long slumbers, comes across the dying girl and "devours" her, allowing her to take Marissa's form and gain all of her memories. Learning of the dead girl's hopes and dreams, and pitying the fact that she died to young to achieve them, the One decides to take on Marissa's form and eventually becomes an actress, kickstarting the game's story.]]

** To a lesser extent, "Why weren't any of Marissa Marcel's movies released?" [[spoiler:''Ambrosio'' had the final print stolen by its director Arthur Fisxher for unclear reasons. ''Minksy'' officially had its production halted due to an on-set accident causing the death of one of its actors, Carl Goodman, while in reality, it was a deliberate murder committed by the One against the Other who had taken Carl's form. The One later also murdered and replaced John Durick and then canceled the movie herself. ''Two of Everything'' was never released due to the One immolating herself on camera in order to potentially live forever by BodySurfing to whoever watches the footage of her death, leaving the movie without its lead and director.]]

** "What happened to Marissa Marcel?" [[spoiler:An immortal being known as the One [[KillAndReplace killed and took Marcel's form]] [[DeadAllAlong long before]] the filming of ''Ambrosio''. "Marcel's" absence from acting between ''Minsky'' and ''Two Of Everything'' was due to the One doing the same to John Durick and having lived exclusively as him during this time. The One decided to bring back Marcel's form for ''Two Of Everything'' seemingly out of nostalgia after Albert Fisher gave her the negatives of ''Ambrosio'' on his death bed.]]
** To a lesser extent, "Why weren't any of Marissa Marcel's movies released?" [[spoiler:''Ambrosio'' had the final print stolen by its director Albert Fisher for unclear reasons. ''Minksy'' officially had its production halted due to an on-set accident causing the death of one of its actors, Carl Goodman, while in reality, it was a deliberate murder committed by the One against the Other who had taken Carl's form. The One later also murdered and replaced John Durick and then canceled the movie herself. ''Two of Everything'' was never released due to the One immolating herself on camera in order to potentially live forever by BodySurfing to whoever watches the footage of her death, leaving the movie without its lead and director.]]

* DeaderThanDead: [[spoiler:Any immortal who's body is destroyed by fire...until the age of film comes along, which offers loopholes around even this.]]

** [[spoiler: The Other takes the place of Carl Greenwood midway through the filming of ''Minsky'', in order to antagonist The One.]]

* TamerAndChaster: ''Two of Everything'' is the only film of the three presented in-game not to feature nudity or graphic sex scenes. Although the script calls for nudity in a scene where Isabella has sex with her two bodyguards in a swimming pool, we only get to see the clothes-on rehearsal for the scene.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: [[spoiler:At the end of the game, The One commits suicide by immolating herself, knowing thanks to The Other that she can return by possessing anyone who watches the footage of her death. As in the one the ''player'' is watching. Just to drive this further, her final message is "I'm part of you now".]]

* ArcSymbol: An [[InvokedTrope invoked example]] - the primary mechanic of the game involves clicking on objects (or people) in film clips, which will bring the player to the same or a similar object reappearing in a different clip, potentially even from another film, in the form of a MatchCut. As such, there are multiple symbols that recur throughout the in-game trilogy.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The treatment of the actors and particularly the actresses in ''Ambrosio'' and ''Minsky'' is deliberately jarring, as part of the game's commentary on filmmaking in the mid-20th century; director Arthur Fischer's comments towards the young women in his cast (including Marissa, who is only 17 when she auditions) are often creepy and sexist. Likewise, John Durick's sexual relationship with the actors in his films is rarely commented upon.

* DevilInDisguise: Marissa Marcel's character in ''Ambrosio'', Matilda, appears to be a mortal woman who dabbles in Satanic rituals, but is revealed in the final scene to be Lucifer himself, having arisen from Hell to tempt the supposedly-honourable Ambrosio into wickedness.

* DrivingQuestion: "What happened to Marissa Marcel?" [[spoiler:An immortal being known as the One [[KillAndReplace killed and took Marcel's form]] [[DeadAllAlong long before]] the filming of ''Ambrosio''. "Marcel's" absence from acting between ''Minsky'' and ''Two Of Everything'' was due to the One doing the same to John Durick and having lived exclusively as him during this time. The One decided to bring back Marcel's form for ''Two Of Everything'' seemingly out of nostalgia after Albert Fisher gave her the negatives of ''Ambrosio'' on his death bed.]]

* KillAndReplace: [[spoiler:The One has killed the real Marissa Marcel likely decades before the filming of ''Ambrosio'' and took her form. Later on, she murders John Durick and takes his place as well, working as a successful director for 20 years.]]

* RealityWarper: [[spoiler:The Immortal race as a whole are heavily implied to be these in tandem with their other powers, given that the vast majority of the reverse clips seem to portray both the One and the Other as interacting with people within the clips in ways that would almost certainly be otherwise impossible or that would not fit within the set timeline of the footage.]] They almost seem to operate on a separate plane of reality from the rest of humanity, but still one that intersects with our own, given that [[spoiler: the One's murder of the Other on the set of ''Minsky'']] still results in consequences for everyone even when no one else can perceive it for what it is, i.e. [[spoiler:the death of Carl Goodman, who the Other had been possessing at the time.]]

** Marissa's audition for Fischer consists of him asking her various uncomfortable questions about her sex life, him telling her that he's glad she's so young because that means that she won't be intelligent enough to question him, and making crude comments about the meaning of oysters (as an aphrodisiac) in relation to her and him after she reads a poem that mentions them. It's all but stated that she and the other lead actress of ''Ambrosio'' were only hired because he desired them sexually. The [[spoiler:reverse clip]] contained within Marissa's audition even has [[spoiler:the One]] calling Fischer out on this, insinuating that his sexual harassment of the women in his films is his desperate attempt to make up for his own insecurities about his age, his failing career, and his, ahem, rather ''inadequate'' member.

* KillItWithFire: Fire is the only thing which can put down [[spoiler: an Immortal]] for good. [[spoiler: The Other meets his demise after "Carl Greenwood's" body is cremated, while The One immolates herself on camera when she decides to undergo her final death.]]

* CastingCouch: Played with in ''Minsky'', where Marissa (the star) is in a sexual relationship with John (the director) - a fact that does not go unremarked upon by the other actors. John even states directly at one point that he sleeps with all of his stars, because he believes it's important for him to understand the "material" that he works with. But Marissa and John went in on the project together before they started sleeping together, and [[spoiler: John knows that Marissa is secretly an immortal being who has a fascination with human art - the movie is partly an attempt to please her.]]

* RealityWarper: [[spoiler:The Immortal race as a whole are heavily implied to be these in tandem with their other powers, given that the vast majority of the spoiler:reverse clips seem to portray both spoiler: the One and the Other as interacting with people within the clips in ways that would almost certainly be otherwise impossible or that would not fit within the set timeline of the footage.]] They almost seem to operate on a separate plane of reality from the rest of humanity, but still one that intersects with our own, given that [[spoiler: the One's murder of the Other on the set of ''Minsky'']] still results in consequences for everyone even when no one else can perceive it for what it is, i.e. [[spoiler:the death of Carl Goodman, who the Other had been possessing at the time.]]

* RealityWarper: [[spoiler:The Immortal race as a whole are heavily implied to be these in tandem with their other powers, given that the vast majority of the spoiler:reverse clips seem to portray both spoiler: the One and the Other as interacting with people within the clips in ways that would almost certainly be otherwise impossible or that would not fit within the set timeline of the footage.]] They almost seem to operate on a separate plane of reality from the rest of humanity, but still one that intersects with our own, given that [[spoiler: the One's murder of the Other on the set of ''Minsky'']] still results in consequences for everyone even when no one else can perceive it for what it is, i.e. [[spoiler:the death of Carl Goodman.]]

* RealityWarper: [[spoiler:The Immortal race]] as a whole are heavily implied to be these in tandem with their other powers, given that the vast majority of the [[spoiler:reverse clips]] seem to portray both [[spoiler: the One and the Other]] as interacting with people within the clips in ways that would almost certainly be otherwise impossible or that would not fit within the set timeline of the footage. They almost seem to operate on a separate plane of reality from the rest of humanity, but still one that intersects with our own, given that [[spoiler: the One's murder of the Other on the set of ''Minsky'']] still results in consequences for everyone even when no one else can perceive it for what it is, i.e. [[spoiler:the death of Carl Goodman.]]