Narrated by Tilda Swinton, Impulse: Playing with Reality is a 40-minute interactive mixed reality narrative experience about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and how you make sense of the world around you, told through the stories of four people who are coming to terms with the decisions which have chartered their lives.

Winner of the Venice Immersive Achievement Award at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

Impulse: Playing with Reality by Anagram, co-produced by Floréal & France Télévisions.

Creators’ statement

Social media would have us believe that we are all on a path of self-discovery. Within the piles of information shared, a growing heap is dedicated to ADHD. Some celebrate the creative galaxy brain, but for those without support or easily dismissed as delinquent, lazy, and, to be truthful “unproductive”, ADHD can lead to a life of misery. One in four prisoners in the UK are likely to have ADHD. For many a diagnosis is an epiphany that reveals the invisible barriers they had been fighting.

Working with neuroscientists and psychologists we gathered 100+ hours of interviews with people on the severe end of the spectrum. We looked for poetic connections to translate into a rich embodied story. Adrenalin-packed gameplay spoke to the needy dopamine-depleted brain. Mixed reality plays with your own relationship with the familiar and new. Through insight into what might drive these actions we hope to foster a deeper understanding of the lived experience of ADHD.