Darkening

How is the world perceived by someone with depression? The animated immersive film uses virtual reality to address depression and the ways to cope with it. Director and protagonist Ondřej guides us through diverse landscapes associating the story of his struggle with depression since puberty. We share his feelings during the first depressive episodes at a family trip in his childhood, at university when striving for perfect results, at work in his everyday fights with the depressive ‘darkening’. Through animation, combining a stylized form of Ondřej’s environment and abstract images of his emotions, the viewers experience and understand what it is like to live with this illness, how to tackle it and what mechanisms are used by people with depression to feel better. Most of the interactions are voice controlled. The main character Ondřej finds out that his tool to get the depression under control is his own voice. He uses humming, singing and even shouting as a calming and relieving technique.