The article focuses on the phenomenon of film reality and offers a review of its theoretical and experimental research. Proceeding from this concept, the authors analyze two trends that have been observed all throughout the history of the evolution of new media: the shrinking of the screen plane and the growing popularity of the first-person narration. The article examines the origins, as well as the driving factors of these processes, determines the role of digital media in the actualization of film reality.The authors maintain that the two trends in the development of new media (gradual shrinking of the screen plane and the growing popularity of the firstperson narration) offer evidence of the viewer's desire to “possess” film reality, to intensify their presence within it.This is manifested in the popularization of the VR format, which implies complete immersion in the artistic space of an audiovisual work, which in turn, in combination with the chronotope of the work itself, gives rise to the notion of film reality. Special attention is given to escapism associated with the immersion in film reality, as well as to conceptualizing the representation of these processes in foreign films. Some formal similarities of such films, resulting from the use of computer technologies, are highlighted.An experiment for the practical study of the phenomenon of film reality is described. The article defines a sequence of relevant hands-on studies developed by the authors, making it possible to obtain fundamental information about the principles of the viewer’s perception and the construction of a cinematic image.