The Thirteenth Floor

I want to talk about a movie called The Thirteenth Floor. It’s an older film, released in 1999, but it left such a strong impression on me that I still remember most of the story.

Douglas, the protagonist, is a software engineer at a video game company located on the thirteenth floor of a tall building. His company has developed a groundbreaking virtual reality game that simulates life in Los Angeles in 1937.

One day, after testing the game, Douglas’s boss discovers a shocking secret. He urgently calls Douglas and asks him to come over. However, by the time Douglas arrives, his boss has been murdered. Realizing that the secret and his boss’s death must be connected to the game, Douglas decides to enter the virtual reality world to investigate.

Inside the game, Douglas finds himself in a meticulously recreated version of 1937 Los Angeles, complete with streets, buildings, and people. These "people", though mere programs, believe they are real and behave just like actual humans.

Things take a surprising turn when one of the virtual characters begins to question the nature of his existence. This character suspects that the world he lives in isn’t real and presents his proof to Douglas.

After disconnecting from the game, Douglas starts to question his own reality. Was he, too, just a part of someone else's simulation? As the story unfolds, Douglas uncovers the truth—he is, in fact, a program living in another layer of someone’s virtual reality.