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mise en scène
/ˌmēz ˌän ˈsen/
noun
the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play.
the setting or surroundings of an event or action.
In order for any "alternative reality" to engage us, we mst believe in it. The drama and form have to take over our emotions to keep us from thinking "this isn't real".
Wikipedia defines it this way:
The term Suspension of disbelief or Willing suspension of disbelief has been defined as a “willingness to suspend one’s critical faculties and believe something surreal; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment” “A literary term of art referring to one of Aristotle’s principles of theater in which the audience accepts fiction as reality so as to experience a catharsis, or a releasing of tensions to purify the soul”
If we don't have this, we can still analytically appreciate a film, but it's much less likely that we'll feel engage emotionally with the film.