Kojima Productions has drawn again the curtain on OD only a bit additional, courtesy of a brand-new trailer. The enigmatic horror recreation garnered fairly a little bit of hype when it was introduced at The Game Awards in 2023, due largely to the pedigree of its head expertise.
OD is a collaboration between online game auteur Hideo Kojima and horror-comedy luminary Jordan Peele, making it a possible hodgepodge of the creators’ distinctive strengths and quirks. It additionally signifies that the sport will seemingly be pregnant with hidden that means: neither creator has a keenness for flippant particulars of their works. That is the state of mind via which one ought to look at the latest OD trailer, as it could be extra illuminating than they first seem.
What Does the ‘Knock’ Imply for OD?
OD Could Be About Summoning One thing
OD‘s new trailer kicks off with a short scene of a card being pushed via a closed door—one with out an inside deal with. It then cuts to a couple strains of textual content, which have had sure phrases redacted:
TEN YEARS SINCE THE REDACTED
HORROR REDAC, “RED“
THE CURSED REDACTED
HAVE ONCE AGAIN REDACTED
The trailer then reveals the again of the cardboard that was pushed via the door, its design depicting a distorted human face coated in open eyes. The topic of the trailer, presumably Sophia Lillis’ character, then turns the cardboard over to disclose a message: “LIGHT THE FIRES TO CELEBRATE THEIR RED REDACTED.” The non-diagetic textual content continues:
THIS BUILDING WASREDACTED FROM
A 3D SCAN OF AN
REDACTEDREDAC FOUND
IN AN REDACTEDRE
AND THEN, REDA WERE
REDACTE IN A SINISTER RITUAL
There’s quite a bit to unpack in these early moments alone. Evidently, there was some kind of calamitous occasion in OD‘s world, and ten years after it, one thing necessary has reoccurred. It is laborious to know for certain, given the redactions, however this could possibly be referring to the return of sure evil beings or phenomena—a idea that is buttressed by later proof.
The message on the aforementioned card appears related. The candle-lighting that may happen later within the trailer is ostensibly a part of a celebration ritual, honoring some entity. It is attainable that this “celebration” is the “sinister ritual” referenced within the subsequent textual content block, or is no less than associated to it; suffice it to say that the ceremony Lillis’ character performs within the trailer has sinister undertones. As for the origins of the constructing (presumably the constructing the place the trailer takes place), it is attainable that the construction is in some way linked to no matter entities or forces are being celebrated via the ritual, designed from a “3D scan” of some unknowable artifact or location.
Knock, Knock, Monsters on the Door
Probably the most simple passage of the trailer comes subsequent: Lillis’ character enters a room and approaches a shrine adorned with candles, considered one of which is within the shape of a baby, with the wick taking the place of its umbilical wire. There may be additionally one other candle that seems to depict the pinnacle of an older little one. As Lillis’ character lights the candles, knocks will be heard coming from the closed door to the room. When she lights the new child child candle, an toddler cries out.
The infant imagery gestures towards themes of rebirth, additional reinforcing the idea that the entity featured within the trailer is in some way related to the “horror” that happened years earlier.
When the older-child candle is lit, it ignites a paper figurine on a miniature carousel, and a few inhuman being approaches Lillis from behind. The being’s speech is distorted, but it surely feels like it’s saying “lock the door,” or even perhaps “knock the door.” The creature then seems to assault Lillis, and the trailer ends.
So what does this all imply, and the way does this all relate to OD‘s ‘Knock’ subtitle? Naturally, it is laborious to be completely sure, however taking each trace into consideration, and synthesizing them via a cultural lens, it seems that Lillis’ character is summoning some kind of demonic or supernatural entity. She appears to be doing this underneath duress, as she is clearly frightened, and the sooner shot of the door with no inside deal with means that she is trapped in a sure location. The photograph of a human eye pasted to the window above the shrine, which opens broad as soon as the being enters the room, additionally communicates a way of surveillance.
Who or what’s compelling Lillis’ character to conduct this ritual? The plain reply could be that the monster glimpsed within the trailer is the wrongdoer, as it could in all probability prefer to be summoned for any variety of causes. Alternatively, she could possibly be following orders from a human director or group. The constructing referenced earlier within the textual content appears to have some innate relationship with the supernatural entity in query, and the point out of a “3D scan” suggests human involvement. Maybe some group, for no matter cause, constructed a constructing based mostly on 3D scans of some supernatural, malignant design, and it’s this group that is forcing Lillis’ character to summon the monster.
Both interpretation might clarify the “knock” motif. Knocking is a civil methodology of requesting entry, but it surely will also be a lure (as Metal Gear fans know too properly), an invite to see who’s there. Relying on who’s knocking, the knocks themselves might even be a risk, a playful, mocking technique to flaunt one’s energy, as if to say, “you’ll be able to let me in, or I can let myself in.”
It is necessary to notice that doorways appear to be a prevalent motif in OD. Kojima first introduced the sport by exiting a picket door prop onstage at The Sport Awards, additional indicating the buildings’ symbolic significance. Maybe there’s a “door” between the worlds of the human and inhuman, the dwelling and the lifeless, or the earthly and the demonic. No matter’s behind the door is knocking, and plans to enter, a method or one other.
