As Americans’ phones become further inundated with various apps requiring login passwords and the necessity of having various unique passwords for security reasons, remembering all of them can become impossible. In this film Apple introduces a brilliant technological solution, one that brings smart phones a step further in user friendly accessibility and security. Facial recognition was previously a faulty and often frustrating technology to integrate into high-tech concepts, let alone mass-market devices, but Apple’s iPhone X, as highlighted in this spot, has all but mastered it and made it widely available.

The director first and foremost creates an authentic, grandiose environment and fully immerses us in it with the scale, design, and characters. The setting and the situation are immediately established with a quick succession of deliberate shots. This eye for authenticity and complete immersion makes the switch at the end all the more surprising and effective.

The director then takes special care to gradually increase the anxiety and tension. Tight closeups of nervous and impatient faces, quick Spielbergian zoom-ins, the sweaty brow of our hero furrowing under pressure, the clock relentlessly ticking down, even the screams of babies and whistles of trains. Every shot and angle is deliberately designed to ramp up the anxiety until, like the hero, we’re almost drowning in it. When it seems it’s all about to pop, suddenly we’re given release and relief as the director reveals both Apple’s solution and a breath of fresh air.