Retornar

Set in a fictional Andes in the year 2222 "Retornar" (Spanish: To return, to come back) narrates the story of the nine last living humans on Earth and their journey towards a big "reset". Structured as a video game, “Retornar” takes place in a Latin America that has nothing else to give: its soil has dried up and the atmosphere has become increasingly dangerous. After a catastrophic war driven by an extreme exploitation of natural resources, the surviving characters wander around a dystopian Andean landscape. They find themselves with no other purpose but to spend the day going through different “puzzles” and “loading screens”. Without warning, they are summoned by a mysterious blue orb that will transport them into a digital celestial world where - after a celebratory “last dance” - they will be forced into becoming the seeds for a new generation. “Retornar” was made through a multilayered process. The world itself was built through a mixture of scenes created in The Sims 4, SketchUp, Photoshop, as well as real footage shot in front of a green screen. The scenarios were built using an isometric perspective to mimic early 8-bit video games, as well as early life simulation games, and video chat universes.