Her Story

Synopsis

A woman is interviewed seven times by police about her missing husband, and all that survives is a database of 271 short video clips, searchable only by the words spoken in them. The viewer types a keyword, watches every clip containing it, and follows the trail of names, dates, and slips of the tongue toward what actually happened, assembling the story in whatever order their own curiosity dictates. Viva Seifert carries the entire film alone on screen, a performance that won Best Performance at the 2015 Game Awards, and writer-director Sam Barlow built the whole thing as a solo developer. It won three BAFTAs, including Game Innovation, sold over 100,000 copies within weeks, and is widely credited with single-handedly reviving full-motion video as a serious storytelling medium. There is no branching here at all: the footage is fixed, and the interactivity is the act of investigation itself, which is exactly why it remains the format's most influential film.

How the Branching Works

Her Story does not branch: the footage is fixed, and the interactivity is the investigation itself. You choose what to search for and which clips to watch, so the order in which the story assembles is yours alone. With 240 minutes of footage to explore, two viewers can walk away having watched almost entirely different films on the way to the same ending.

Cast & Creators

Related Interactive Films

Further Reading