A video game. A movie. A movie about a video game. Sitra Achra is all of these things, the movie centers on retro game collector, Andrew, who believes he’s discovered the holy grail of video games. The titular game in question, Sitra Achra [the other side] is a prototype cartridge that mysteriously disappeared alongside its creator in 1985. Andrew grows increasingly obsessed with beating Sitra Achra, but the game will not give up its secrets without a fight.
Levi Buchanan is taking on the task of releasing both the movie and the video game simultaneously. Buchanan says, “Having Sitra Achra be a real game developed by Salt + Pixel was important to me for a number of reasons. Because the game is essentially one of our villains, I wanted its malice to be tangible on the set, something for our actors to really tangle with.”
Featuring the game within the movie was rooted in authenticity, limiting the technical aspects to what would have been available on an 8-bit system. “I also expect that gamers will be a substantial part of our audience, so if the Sitra game was totally faked, they’d spot it a mile away. That threatens to pull them out of the experience. So we tried to be as authentic as possible with the game, sticking to the limitations of the Commodore 64 and using those limitations to our advantage as much as possible in terms of creating something that feels old, mysterious, and dangerous.”
While experiencing both the game and the movie obviously offers the richest experience, they’re designed to work as standalone pieces. “Releasing the Sitra game alongside the movie also opens up an exciting avenue to deepen the emotional connection between the audience and our story. They can experience our hero’s descent via this creepy old video game for themselves. Now, even though I think they work best together, you can experience and enjoy one without the other. It’s possible that the entry point into Sitra Achra for some folks might be discovering the game and that’s what leads them to the movie.”
Take an exclusive first look at the full official trailer below.
Sitra Achra stars Darius Pierce (Pig), Jonn Schinderle (Dark Jeans), Angela Chandra (My Ghoulfriend), David Knell (Pig), and Nathan Barnatt (Dad, America’s Got Talent). Written and directed by Levi Buchanan. Poster by Creepy Duck. No release date just yet, but we’ll keep you posted.
