I spent hours trawling through Immortality’s three films — Ambrosio, Minsky, and Two of Everything — and behind-the-scenes clips looking for clues to answer the game’s central question: What happened to Marissa Marcel? I eventually hit credits, and liked to think I had a pretty good idea of what happened to the mysterious actress. But after talking to friends and other Polygon writers, I discovered that I hadn’t actually unfolded all that much of the mystery.
Sure, I still had questions even after spending so long with the game. (Like why doesn’t Marissa age?) But there were plenty of questions I didn’t even know I should ask. After spending a few more hours with the game, I turned to YouTube for answers, and that’s where I found my answers. YouTuber Sam Gowing put together an hour-long story explanation and analysis that’s really thorough, explaining both the story at face value and under its layers.
Gowing helpfully outlined all three of Marissa Marcel’s movies, which are complicated in their own right. In Immortality itself, the film clips are obscured, hidden, and out of order, which is part of the allure of the puzzle, and it’s a lot to keep straight on top of everything else under the surface — which is everything that happened while filming, and then the supernatural element of it all. Thankfully, Gowing also tells the three behind-the-scenes stories, and finally digs into the weird stuff we don’t want to mention for fear of spoilers.
I still have questions, and I think Gowing does, too. That’s the neat thing about Immortality, isn’t it? I don’t think there’s a right answer to explaining away the game, but such a thorough analysis has made it more fun to think about.