Why Life Feels Like a Movie

Proudly written by Callan Hansen

August 31st, 2025

Have you ever felt like life is playing out in front of you, like you’re just a spectator in a cinema watching your own story? That’s what life has been feeling like for me lately.

Recently, I’ve had some breakthrough experiences. As I sit with myself and question who I really am or what I truly value—beyond the masks and labels we assign to our identity—I’ve started to see just how fake and artificial this world can feel. Genuine, meaningful connection has become so rare that sometimes it feels impossible to find. Most of the time it feels like I’m playing a role society wrote for me. Breaking free seems nearly impossible. No matter what you do, you’re still trapped in the game

Western society is designed to disconnect people. The rich use the rest of us as tools for their self-gain, while we scramble for scraps and call it “success.” And most people have accepted this like it’s normal, like it’s a healthy way of life. Nobody wants to question it.

What it feels like

It feels like sitting backstage, watching the play of reality unfold, while everyone else is out on stage acting out roles they don’t even realize they’re trapped in. When you really step back, you see how much of this world is built on performance. People confuse their ego with who they really are. They think their job title, their social media persona, their material wealth, or even their labels make up their true identity. And they defend those illusions, even when those identities are hurting themselves or others.

Ask yourself: Who are you when no one is watching? Which parts of your day feel like they're really you, and which feel scripted? If no one praised or criticized you for it, would you still do it?

That's why life can feel like a movie. You're awake enough to see the script, but you're still in the theatre.

Why this happens

This feeling doesn't come out of nowhere. It's a reflection of how society is structured. Everything around us pushes competition, conflict, and curated images. We're told to “be ourselves,” but what that really means is: pick an identity, brand it, and defend it at all costs. It's sold to us as freedom, but mostly, it's just an illusion we’ve accepted. It feels like our lives are moving along a conveyor belt, our identities and sense of self being shaped and manufactured by forces we barely notice. Media, social pressures, and the values we chase all influence us and shape who we are, often without us realizing it. That's why nothing ever really changes, why so many of us feel disconnected, even though our devices tell us we're more “connected” than ever and can be anything we want. It's all part of a bigger game we're playing without knowing it.

Even the things we use to escape—like movies, TV, and video games—are often built to reinforce the same shallow values. They distract us from asking deeper questions. They keep us hooked in the same loop. Chase, consume, repeat. It’s all part of the same game, designed to keep people disconnected and chasing after things that never really satisfy.

Stepping backstage

The truth is, our identity isn’t fixed. It’s fluid, changing all the time. The roles and labels we play aren’t the truth of who we are, but we cling to them because facing the emptiness underneath feels too scary. That’s why life starts to feel like a movie when you begin to see through the act. It’s not that life itself is fake, it’s that the roles we’ve been forced into are.

Maybe the point isn’t to keep playing along, but to step backstage, look around, and realize the movie was never real to begin with.