Two girls reach out their hands towards the hum of the machine and find screens gently giving way like the surface of water.
To open a month of films on isolation, guest programmer Bethany Winters brings you an ultra rare big-screen presentation of the first episode of cult anime Serial Experiments Lain (1998), the perfect companion to the night's feature film We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) from director Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw The TV Glow).
Casey - just like Lain - is a teenager looking for herself online, seeking comfort and distraction in the mysteries lodged in cyberspace and hurtling willingly down rabbit holes of obsession that will lead to others who are like her, or are at least pretending to be.
Set in a world of creepypastas and anonymous signals from the digital beyond, Schoenbrun's feature debut beautifully captures the dark yet playful nature of modern folklore's collaborative construction and the kind of long nights spent scrolling in the hope of feeling anything but the way you already do.
Come for a thrillingly authentic look at the dissociative mode of post-internet personhood, stay for the brilliant, haunting score by Alex G and a once-in-a-lifetime performance by Anna Cobb (Bones & All).
Venture down to the basement of Dalston Superstore if you've felt the call of cascading pixels, and only wanted more.
I swear, someday soon, I am just gonna disappear, and you won't have any idea what happened to me.
Please be advised that this showing contains depictions of self harm and suicide.
Serial Experiments Lain episode one will be shown in Japanese with English subtitles.
Subtitles will also be available throughout the night's feature film.
Seating is a mixture of benches, backed chairs, bar stools, and floor space, and is first come, first served.