Review “Glitched” is a novel, high-tech, haunting film

AI-generated materials have overtaken social media. But what if the AI experience were somehow connected with a haunted house? That’s what happened in Glitched. A brother, Shannon (played by Elijah Rowen), and sister, Finley (played by Abigail O’Regan), tech geek twins, decide to help their grandmother keep the family estate — a rambling, centuries-old castle.

They design a virtual reality game that brings “guests” into the castle, incorporating real people who work there as well. This would work if they hadn’t rigged up an antenna for their satellite link with an antique and haunted sword.

Glitched opens with a scene that appears to be straight out of the game that the twins are making. A lady and her love are trapped somewhere on the estate when the whole thing catches fire. This is our first glimpse of the ghost that will soon haunt them all.

Shannon and Finley welcome virtual guests as real ones show up, along with a man who looks as old as the castle. The twins check their gear, but they find that nothing is awry. The person is not an avatar of a rogue user. He is also not real. Maybe he is AI run amok? No, soon the ghost proves how real he is by holding the entire game hostage.

The film’s plot tension is fueled by the grandmother’s need to pay off the debt on the place. There is also a family secret that looms over the group, threatening to cost the family its legacy. They soon find that sending the ghost “home” means satisfying whatever need he has that is tying him to earth. Doing that and continuing the game to save the home is how a series of mishaps occurs. The goal thus becomes sending the ghost home, completing the game, and doing it all without destroying the house.

The idea for the movie is a novel one, ahead of its time. It’s like watching Tron in the 1980s, before the technology was developed to seamlessly blend graphics with reality. Glitched makes up for the graphics with a story that is full of twists and ancestral gossip.

Glitched is now making its way through the festival circuit. Stay tuned for more information.