--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: 8. Virginia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2016 # 8\. _Virginia_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Variable State’s [_Virginia_](http://time.com/4498103/virginia-review-pc-xbox/ "undefined"), whose makers cite filmmaker David Lynch as an influence, may at first seem maddeningly opaque, but its rewards — best realized off multiple viewings — are rich and many. It challenges players to make sense of abrupt scene transitions, constrained perspectives and general narrative reticence. Other “walking simulators” settle for the museum tour, replete with audio logs and text dumps that fix meaning. _Virginia_ trades that sort of clarity for another: that of the subjective, ever-precarious moment. And what gorgeous, reverberant moments there are in this haunting tale, empowered by its absent words and explanations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570391/virginia-3/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570391/virginia-3/"},"headline":"8. Virginia","datePublished":"2016-11-14T20:14:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:16:58.561Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570391/virginia-3/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570391/virginia-3/","name":"8. Virginia"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Virginia Time Plays.mp4","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EkyuGPoP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-09-26T20:23:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EkyuGPoP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570391/virginia-3/","duration":"PT3M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570391/virginia-3/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```