I’m always a sucker for a good mystery, and even more so when you add a spooky hotel to the mix. The Final Cut of Lilith Cunningham is exactly that, as you explore the Alpine Movie Manor Hotel and Drive-In in search of your missing daughter Sara.
When I sat down to play the game, I was immediately pulled into its Mulholland Drive vibes, with the hotel echoing with haunting, dreamlike energy throughout. I began my demo in the hotel lobby, mysteriously empty and abandoned. I explored what seemed like a communal lounge, the hallway, and one of the hotel rooms, finding clues along the way. Mixed into the gameplay are FMV sequences that add great flair to the overall experience.
When you’ve collected enough clues, you’re able to move from the physical realm to the astral plane, where you can try to piece the mystery together on your clue board. Each mystery has its own board that will spider-web with threads as you attach clues to the board, and when you’ve uncovered enough, you’ll be able to alter reality through the help of a film reel.
Lilith Cunningham possesses a mystical film reel that, when edited, can alter reality. In my demo, I got to view a short piece of a larger film in which a reporter gets shot after searching a file cabinet for too long, and some goons catch him. I edited the film reel so the reporter flees the scene before the goons arrive, avoiding injury. Changing this caused a guest in the hotel to change the room they were staying in, allowing me to discover some more clues that will hopefully lead to answers about where Lilith’s daughter and the rest of the hotel guests disappeared to.
It was a really neat experience that I’m eager to play more of when it eventually releases. It’s hard to nail the vibe of a neo-noir mixed with some David Lynch, but The Final Cut of Lilith Cunningham seems to understand what makes both vibes click.
