The Game

This was thoroughly entertaining and had more to it than meets the eye. There are a lot of parallels with Existentialist philosophy in this film, specifically the idea of existence preceding essence, authenticity, the absurdity of life, and living in faith.

From the start, his essence: his immense wealth, rigid routines, and the emotional trauma of his father’s suicide defines Nicholas Van Orton. He lives a life bound to the context of his job and family history, refusing to be fully free. When introduced to the game, however, his pre-defined essence shatters. His power, money, and social standing strip away, forcing him into a state of existence preceding essence. He now must constantly make immediate, life-altering choices based on the present, therefore defining himself through his actions rather than his inherited status.

When CRS activates the game on behalf of his brother Conrad, Nick experiences a state of radical freedom, where every event he encounters is uncertain; every choice he makes could lead to death or imprisonment. The extreme freedom amplifies the anxiety experienced by Nicholas and the audience. In existentialism, facing this responsibility and the terrifying freedom that comes with it is necessary for living an authentic life.

Albert Camus defines the Absurd as the fundamental conflict between humanity’s innate desire for meaning, clarity, and order, and the universe’s cold, silent, meaningless indifference. This is best illustrated by Sisyphus pushing a boulder endlessly up a mountain; a vain attempt at finding ultimate purpose in an irrational existence. In The Game, Nicholas is constantly searching for logic, a conspiracy, or a legal loophole, the answers he finds are ultimately ridiculous and disproportionate to the suffering inflicted upon him. Nicholas’s path is one of realizing that the world, as presented by the game, is not fair or logical, but he must rebel against this absurdity by choosing to live despite it.

Nicholas’ rigid control and emotional detachment from his surroundings at the start of the film are textbook examples of Jean-Paul Sarte’s idea of living in bad faith, running from the harsh truth of his own freedom and unresolved personal trauma. Instead of recognizing his freedom of choice, he thinks his particular way of life restricts his actions.

In the finale, when Nick falls into the ballroom, he discovers a profound, albeit forced, catharsis. By symbolically replicating and surviving his father’s last moments, he rids himself of his old, inauthentic self. He emerges at the end, having risked and lost everything to his name, finally capable of genuine connection and joy, trading his controlled, inauthentic material wealth for an unpredictable, authentic life.

On the surface, The Game might not seem like much, but the parallels to Existentialist philosophy are crystal clear. Maybe this connection is because of my recent resurgence in philosophical reading, but the shoe fits.