Five Minutes is a nerve-wracking interactive short by G-Shock.

Try to Survive for 5 Minutes

Five Minutes is an interactive short film built as a promotional campaign for watch company G-Shock. Although the short is sponsored by G-Shock, it plays more like a video game and doesn’t feel as if you’re being sold watches. It’s a zombie story, combining narrative filmmaking with interactive elements that feel as if you’re playing in the video with the characters. There are three difficulty levels: Tourist, Moderate, and Hell. Each one is intense. The story centers around a man holding a gun to his head and experiencing vivid flashbacks as zombies pound on his door, about to break through.

Narrative Filmmaking Mixed with Interactive Gameplay

Each level also contains a lot of zombies that you have to fight against. Unfortunately, the game functionality isn’t as strong as an actual video game (although that’s balanced by the fact that the video content is so strong). Basically the only way to advance through the game is by using your mouse to swipe certain shapes or to click on boxes in the right, allotted time. You get three chances to mess up, and then the ending is always gruesome. It actually can be quite easy to make a mistake during the gameplay, and it’s annoying to have to start the film from the beginning again. Still, it’s a well-made interactive video. It’s unclear why G-Shock wanted to associate themselves with such a bloody, horrific video, but it’s a good thing that the filmmakers were given the opportunity to create what they did.