Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One is one of those novels where the descriptions leap off the page, triggering distinct imagery in the reader’s head. A story like this was tailor-made for the silver screen. As a matter of fact, Warner Bros. picked up the film rights before the book was even published. Who better to bring Cline’s world of imagination to life than director Steven Spielberg? The result is a modern classic for anybody who loves pop culture, retro media, and entertainment in general. While the screenplay deviates from the source material at times, there’s no denying that the filmmakers have captured the book’s spirit. The film treats us to an insanely creative thrill ride, as well as some relevant commentary modern audiences can take to heart. It may be set in 2044, but the themes addressed are eerily reminiscent of humanity’s current status.

3. The Timely Nostalgia

If you haven’t noticed, people are kind of obsessed with nostalgia nowadays. Whether we’re talking about movies, TV shows, or video game, people always want to go back to the 90s, 80s, and 70s when things just seemed to make more sense. Read Player One transports the audience to a virtual wonderland known as the OASIS, where nostalgia is essentially a fuel source. The plot revolves around a hunt for an Easter egg that’ll grant the winner control of this virtual reality. The OASIS itself is populated with an enough Easter eggs and references to make The Lego Batman Movie blush. The limitless possibilities of this simulator allows users to do anything, whether it’s racing in the Back to the Future DeLorean, controlling the Iron Giant, or stepping into The Overlook Hotel from The Shining. Ready Player One not only does a brilliant job at capturing our current fascination with nostalgia, but also explores what could happen if we took that fascination to a whole new level.

2. The Battle For the OASIS

The villains in Ready Player One are a video game conglomerate called IOI, who wish to take control of the OASIS and turn it into an overpriced amusement park only the wealthy can afford. Depicting corporations as big, bad antagonists is nothing new, but the problems IOI creates strangely parallel many real world controversies. On the gaming front, IOI’s greedy intentions to drain users’ wallets isn’t too different from what modern game companies are doing with loot boxes and microtransactions. IOI also resembles the FCC, who have done everything in their power to repeal net neutrality, which could very well abolish internet freedom as we know it. Just as our heroes must battle to preserve the OASIS, the film encourages us to fight for the net as well.

1. Our Reliance On Technology

We’ve come a long way since Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. With virtual reality taking some significant steps forward in recent years, an ontologically anthropocentric sensory immersive simulation like the OASIS isn’t as far-fetch as it might’ve seemed years ago. Considering how much time people already spend on their iPhones and game consoles, it’s safe to assume that the OASIS would take over our lives if it actually existed. Ready Player One wisely doesn’t turn technology into a bad guy, however. It acknowledges that the real world is full of hardships and we need the occasional escape, whether it’s by watching a favorite movie or playing a video game. At the same time, the film tackles what happens when people completely substitute reality with virtual reality. The real world may be far from perfect, but it also offers certain joys you can’t experience anywhere else. You can spend your life hiding behind a pair of VR goggles, but… well, Ferris Bueller said it best:

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