I watched Submerged, Apple Vision Pro’s first immersive film. It’s a 17-minute thriller with depth
Apple's first scripted immersive movie launched today. It's exactly the type of experience I want from the future of spatial entertainment
🥽 Apple Vision Pro gets its first scripted immersive movie today
🍿 Submerged is a 17-minute WWII thriller that puts you on a submarine
💥 That WWII sub comes under attack, making for some great action
🔮 Apple Immersive Video could be the future of connected storytelling
📣 Directed by Oscar winner Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Wearing the Apple Vision Pro is all about taking in new experiences, and it reached new depths today – literally. I just watched Apple’s first scripted immersive film that’s now available on the headset, Submerged, and this WWII-set movie is exactly what I’ve wanted from the Vision Pro. Content experiences I can’t get anywhere else.
Submerged is a new 17-minute film aboard a WWII submarine that follows American sailors silently patrolling the ocean when they suddenly face a life-or-death scenario. They’re under attack! Strapped into an Apple Vision Pro, I felt like I was a member of the crew beneath the ocean and equally in danger because of how it was filmed.
New technology, known artisans
Apple Immersive Video uses ultra-high-resolution 3D video and Spatial Audio to put you on that doomed submarine. What’s really cool about Submerged is that the 180º projection gave me a sense of freedom as I looked around the set, but I realized I was trapped on a cramped, creaky WWII sub with nowhere to go. The disparity between these two emotions is where Submerged came alive for me on Vision Pro.
The technology – from the all-encompassing 3D camera lenses to my Vision Pro lens with more pixels than a 4K TV – is brand new. However, the talent behind the camera has experience successfully bringing war-time drama to the movies. Apple entrusted Academy Award-winning filmmaker Edward Berger (who directed Netflix’s 2022 All Quiet on the Western Front) to the helm of this unique short film.
Apple’s behind-the-scenes video for Submerged shows how much craft went into the filmmaking: the tight shots, moody lighting, and haunting sounds capture the sense of isolation and panic that come with being onboard a WWII submarine.
Apple Vision Pro is like having front-row seats
What’s cool about Apple Immersive Video is that I can look anywhere in the 180º field of view and observe the set and actors in the periphery. I didn’t have to focus on the center of the screen to have something catch my attention. In this way, it felt like I had front-row seats at a Broadway play more than watching a simple 2D movie.
I noticed the supporting actors trying to get some shuteye in bunk beds, creepy crawling bugs sneaking up the hull floor, and gushing water flooding my line of sight as I looked for a way out. Even if I had no control over the movement (like in a video game), it was instinctive to want to escape this panicked situation.
I could, of course, take off the Apple Vision Pro at any time, but even in the short 17-minute runtime, I felt connected to the crew members of the sub. I wasn’t going to abandon ship just like that. I was going to see this film to its very end.
Apple Vision Pro remains a $3,500 novelty for most people, but it’s a proving ground that’s actually here for consumers – unlike some AR devices that are more theoretical at this point. Submerged feels like a fresh take when the normal cinema may not give you the same level of excitement anymore. It could change the way we experience movies and shows and make an emotional connection with characters.
Submerged is my ideal Apple Vision Pro demo
I‘m already a frequent flyer with my Apple Vision Pro – it’s a far superior entertainment system on flights than any setback screen. But now I have reason to take the headset home to show my dad, a former sailor in the Navy. We’re really going to connect when I show him what this newfangled headset I’ve been talking up can do, and he’ll love it.
My dad and I have visited dozens of ships and submarines over the decades, and it’s fascinating to see the cramped quarters in real life. Going beyond 2D, the Vision Pro offers a 3D glimpse at what WWII submarines looked like with a full roster of sailors, red lights and alarms going off, and gushing water filling every compartment.
It also offers a glimpse of how Apple Immersive Video could become the future of connected storytelling. I’m ready to take the plunge with more content like this, built from the ground up for spatial entertainment.