A few months ago, we reported that a movie Steven Soderbergh had been working on for HBO had somehow transformed into a miniseries called Mosaic that was actually more of an app, and it was all based around viewers/users choosing how and when they experience the events of the story (which concerns a murder but isn’t necessarily a mystery). A traditionally linear version will still air on HBO at some point, but Soderbergh said that the app was the main way to watch the show. Now, the Mosaic app is finally available, and everyone with about seven hours to spend on their phone (or on their Apple TV) can dive in and explore the full narrative.
The Verge has some new details on how this whole thing works, and it turns out that it is a bit more linear than the “choose your own adventure” idea that the app originally sounded like. Basically, once being introduced to the main characters, app users can choose which perspective to follow and learn about what’s happening in different ways. Soderbergh told The Verge that he never felt like he was “relinquishing control” of the story, saying it’s “a fixed universe,” but viewers can still take things at their own pace and more or less in their own way. The app also has a nice map that illustrates this, with users starting at the top and then making their way to the bottom as they move through the plot:
The iOS version is available at this link (so you have to experience this on your phone), and an Android version will be available “in the next few weeks.”