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'Papers, Please' Short Film Adaptation Gets Teaser Trailer

'Papers, Please' Short Film Adaptation Gets Teaser Trailer

Lucas Pope's independent video game darling, Papers, Please, is getting a short film adaptation. This was actually announced back in May by Pope himself on Twitter with accompanying screenshots, but we now have a teaser trailer. You can check that out below.

The game, which penned itself aptly as "A Dystopian Document Thriller", is a game where you, the player, assume the role of an officer who mans the border checkpoint of a totalitarian state and checks the papers and ID of individuals entering the country. The iconography strongly resembles that of a Cold War-era East of the Iron Curtain nation.

The plot ramps up as you try to support your family, decide the fates of those entering "Arstotzka," try to keep up with the increasingly complex paperwork and identifications required to enter the country, a revolution begins brewing, and you find yourself torn by all of these motivations. A unique point of the game is that it only goes as far as you can; the story can end at any point if you make the wrong decisions. Helping others puts yourself and your starving family at great risk.

As Pope says, Russian filmmakers Nikita and Liliya Ordynskiy are writing the film, with Nikita in the directing chair. The inspector who the player assumes the role of will be portrayed by Igor Savochkin. In addition to all of this, the teaser trailer was just released and reported on by Engadget. It slates the release of the Papers, Please film for some point in 2017.

It looks like a promising adaptation of the game. That being said, this is an interesting game to adapt to film. Much of the tension of Papers, Please comes from player choice, so having that taken away for a non-interactive retelling of Papers, Please seems like a questionable decision. That being said, the writing and narrative running through the drama of Arstotzka are enthralling, so there is still a lot to work with in the retelling.

With that, I guess there's nothing left to say but Glory to Arstotzka!


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Joshua DavisonAbout Joshua Davison

Josh is a longtime super hero comic fan and an aspiring comic book and fiction writer himself. He also trades in videogames, Star Wars, and Magic: The Gathering, and he is also a budding film buff. He's always been a huge nerd, and he hopes to contribute something of worth to the wider geek culture conversation. He is also happy to announce that he is the new Reviews Editor for Bleeding Cool. Follow on Twitter @joshdavisonbolt.
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