# World on a Wire (1973)

> A research scientist in a near-future computer lab uncovers strange disappearances tied to a reality-simulating program called Simulacron.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/73433

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 2
- Episode runtime: 102 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: science fiction, drama, mystery
- Created by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Network: Das Erste
- Cast: Klaus Löwitsch, Mascha Rabben, Karl-Heinz Vosgerau, Adrian Hoven, Ivan Desny, Ingrid Caven, Barbara Valentin, Günter Lamprecht
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070904/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: slow
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: dense
- Violence: none
- Tone: cerebral, paranoid, melancholic, cool, unsettling

## What critics say

Audiences rate this two-part German science fiction miniseries positively, admiring its unsettling exploration of simulated reality.

## Synopsis

World on a Wire (1973) is a West German science fiction miniseries created by Rainer Werner Fassbinder for Das Erste. Klaus Löwitsch plays Fred Stiller, a researcher at the Simulacron computer institute, a project that builds a simulated society so convincing that its inhabitants may not know they are simulated. When his colleague vanishes and the lab's leader dies, Stiller begins to question whether the institute's world is the only real one, pressing colleagues and officials for answers while the ground beneath his own life grows unstable. Mascha Rabben appears as Eva Vollmer, and Karl-Heinz Vosgerau and Barbara Valentin round out a cast of corporate figures and associates caught in the strange occurrences. The series runs as a two-episode miniseries of roughly 102 minutes each, a compact and cerebral piece. Its tone is cool, talky, and paranoid, with a mystery that rewards close attention rather than spectacle. Its futuristic corporate sets and sterile interiors give the story an unsettling, dreamlike atmosphere. Fans of The Thirteenth Floor, The Matrix and Solaris will find resonance in its meditation on simulated reality and technological alienation.

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