David Fincher directs Samsung short about escaping the rat race with Xbox and OLED TVs

At the end of last week, Samsung quietly published a short video called Wake Up The Human Inside. It was directed by Romain Chassaing and David Fincher — the same David Fincher who directed all-time classics like Seven, Fight Club, and Alien 3. And you can watch it today.

Surprisingly, while the short video ad debuted days before the Galaxy S25 Edge unveiling, the story has nothing to do with the upcoming ultra-slim phone. Instead, it promotes escaping the worries of everyday life by playing Xbox on Samsung's OLED TVs.

Wake Up The Human Inside paints a dystopian world where the protagonist, a humanoid rat, is trapped in the proverbial rat race. Our nameless protagonist wakes up early in the morning, exercises on the hamster wheel, and takes the subway to a soul-crushing cubicle job.

Spoilers ahead: When it's time to punch out, our rat protagonist heads back home and finally wakes up the human inside by firing up the Xbox Series X console connected to a Samsung TV. Check it out below.

It's a beautiful short, albeit maybe a bit depressing in its dystopian depiction of daily life. Nevertheless, many people do seem to relate to the message. Many of us view gaming as a form of escapism. Life can be dull and stressful, and for many people, gaming has become a way to relax and take the edge off everyday worries.

On a more technical note, it's interesting to see Samsung promoting the Xbox Series X console rather than the Gaming Hub streaming service. Near the end of the video, we can see the white Series X next to a Samsung TV. So we know our rat humanoid protagonist isn't playing games through the cloud. He's serious about getting the best performance, resolution, and low latency.

Most Samsung TVs are indeed a perfect choice for console gamers. Even though Samsung mentions only its OLED line in this short video by David Fincher and Romain Chassaing, we've had a lot of success playing console games with low latency and great visuals on Neo QLED.

If you are looking to relax and escape everyday worries through console gaming, Samsung's 2025 TVs with Vision AI are now available in most markets. And if you don't have an Xbox console, you can still enjoy Xbox games through Gaming Hub (in select markets) and Game Pass, whether you have an Xbox controller or a Galaxy phone with the Virtual Gamepad app installed. Nevertheless, for the best experience, a real console is no doubt the way to go.