''Virtuality'' is a 2009 American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by

Peter Berg Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy '' Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy '' The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night ...

and written by Michael Taylor and Ronald D. Moore. Originally filmed for the Fox network as a

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

for a series that was not commissioned, it aired on the network as a standalone film on June 26, 2009. It features the crew of ''Phaeton'', a spaceship designed to search for a hospitable planet in a nearby star system after an ecological catastrophe in near-future Earth. While approaching the

point of no return The point of no return (PNR or PONR) is the point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action because turning back is no longer possible, being too dangerous, physically difficult, or prohibitively expensive to be undertaken. ...

, the crew experiences problems with their

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

entertainment system, which quickly escalate and threaten their mission.

Plot

The story is set aboard the ''Phaeton'', Earth's first starship, on a ten-year journey to explore the nearby Epsilon Eridani star system. In order to help the 12-person crew endure the long mission, a system of

modules are installed aboard the ship. These modules, which are worn like glasses and suppress real-world body movement, allow the crew to assume various identities and enjoy a variety of adventures. The crew's experiences aboard the ship are broadcast back to Earth as Fox's

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

program ''Edge of Never: Life on the Phaeton''. The pilot picks up approximately six months after the launch of ''Phaeton''. The crew now faces a "go or no-go" situation, in that they are fast approaching their last chance to change course back towards Earth. However, their home planet is quickly becoming uninhabitable, with dry land becoming increasingly rare. Scientists estimate that the planet will become completely inhospitable within the next hundred years. The ''Phaeton'''s priority mission has been changed to that of searching out and discovering a new planet for humans to inhabit. Unfortunately, as the crew fast approaches their point of no return beyond the planet

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

, several problems arise. Dr. Adin Meyer, the crew's only physician, becomes aware that he is in the early stages of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. Via use of the ''Phaeton's'' virtual reality programs, Commander Frank Pike has begun a secret sexual relationship with botanist Rika Goddard, whose husband, psychologist Dr. Roger Fallon, is also a part of the crew, the mission psychologist and producer of ''Edge of Never''. Meanwhile, the crew's virtual reality simulators have been experiencing several bizarre glitches, all of which involve a mysterious man, whose acts against the crew inside the virtual simulations become more and more disturbing, including "murdering" Pike during an American Civil War reenactment and "killing" Meyer by pushing him off a cliff. Despite the hardships, the crew unanimously decides to continue on with the 10-year voyage. After Billie Kashmiri, the new host of ''Edge of Never'', is beaten and raped by the mystery man within the virtual world, the crew considers discontinuing use of the virtual reality programs, possibly for the remainder of the voyage. Now past their "point of no return", the crew faces the prospect of continuing on for an entire decade within the confines of the ''Phaeton'' without a virtual world for comfort. The communications array fails to deploy, and after Dr. Jules Braun (designer of most of the ''Phaeton'''s systems) tries everything that he can from inside the ship, Pike, Rika, Val Orlovsky and Manny Rodriguez prepare to identify the problem from the outside. However, while preparing for EVA, the airlock chamber closes by itself, with Pike inside and without his pressure suit helmet. Despite efforts to save him, the airlock opens and Pike is killed. His death leaves the crew in shambles. Braun, however, believes Pike's death was murder, and does not know whom to trust. The ''Phaeton'''s drive engineer and second in command, Dr. Jimmy Johnson, unwillingly assumes command, foreseeing conflict with the crew as he is a somewhat abrasive loner. While going over the ship's recording of Pike's death, Fallon discovers Pike's last confession of love to Rika. Rika finds Pike's virtual reality headset in her quarters, and when she wears it, she finds herself in Pike's favorite simulation: a tactical military command of the Civil War era. Inside the simulation, she encounters what appears to be a simulation of Pike that tells her, "None of this is real," and only by following him "through the looking-glass and down the rabbit hole" will she learn the truth. He rides off on horseback into the virtual sunset, with Rika crying out Pike's name in desperation.

Cast and characters

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau (; born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor. He graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in Copenhagen in 1993, and had his breakthrough role in Denmark with the film ''Nightwatch (1994 film), Night ...

as Commander Frank Pike *

Kerry Bishé Kerry Bishé is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Donna Clark in the AMC period drama series '' Halt and Catch Fire'' (2014–2017) and Lucy Bennett, the lead/narrator in the final season of the ABC medical sitcom '' Scrubs'' ...

as Billie Kashmiri –

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

, reality show host * Joy Bryant as Alice Thibadeau – astrobiologist * Jose Pablo Cantillo as Manny Rodriguez – astrophysicist * Ritchie Coster as Dr. Jimmy Johnson – pulse drive engineer, second-in-command * James D'Arcy as Dr. Roger Fallon – psych officer, reality show producer *

Clea DuVall Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall (born September 25, 1977) is an American actress, director and screenwriter. Her film appearances include ''The Faculty'' (1998); ''But I'm a Cheerleader''; ''Girl, Interrupted (film), Girl, Interrupted'' (both ...

as Sue Parsons – pilot, flight systems engineer * Gene Farber as Val Orlovsky –

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

* Sienna Guillory as Rika Goddard –

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, microbial exobiologist * Erik Jensen as Dr. Jules Braun –

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

, ''Phaeton'' designer * Nelson Lee as Kenji Yamamoto – astrobiologist * Omar Metwally as Dr. Adin Meyer – medical officer * Jimmi Simpson as Virtual Man *

Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American voice actress who has provided English-language roles for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as List of FLCL characters#Haruko Haruhara, Haruko H ...

as Jean (voice) – onboard computer

Production

The screenwriters consulted

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

to accurately display space travel technology. After seeing the scheduled airing time of ''Virtuality'', Michael Taylor called it a " New Orleans funeral", having little hope in Fox picking up the series. The closing credits honor Nora O'Brien, an

NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...

executive, who died in May 2009 of a cerebral aneurysm at the age of 44.

TV series campaign

''Virtuality'' was filmed as a pilot but aired as a film when Fox did not pick up the series. On Friday June 26, 2009 Jessica Blank, wife of actor Erik Jensen who portrayed Dr. Jules Braun, posted a call to action on her husband's

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page urging people to watch the movie and write in support of more episodes.

DVD release

''Virtuality'' was first released on DVD on October 27, 2009, in the United States, exclusively through

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

. The DVD then had a full release on May 4, 2010.

References

External links

*
Michael Taylor interview
at AMCtv.com {{Peter Berg 2009 television films 2009 films 2009 drama films 2009 science fiction films 2009 in American television 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s science fiction drama films American drama television films American science fiction drama films American science fiction television films American space adventure films Fiction set around Epsilon Eridani Films about virtual reality Films directed by Peter Berg Films set in the future Films shot in Vancouver Films with screenplays by Ronald D. Moore Fox Broadcasting Company original films Neptune in film Television films as pilots Television pilots not picked up as a series English-language science fiction drama films