Sci-fi feature ‘Landscape With Invisible Hand’ opens in theaters today – and it’s not your usual summertime fare
You don’t see too many science fiction comedy-dramas heading into movie theaters these days – or any days, quite frankly – so that alone is cause to celebrate the arrival of “Landscape With Invisible Hand,” the odd title of an intriguing film that opens today (Friday) in limited release, starring a cast of mostly unknowns with the exception of Tiffany Haddish in a prime co-starring role. It’s written and directed by Cory Finley, who directed the Emmy-winning 2020 made-for-TV movie “Bad Education” that starred Hugh Jackman. And its composer is Michael Abels, a Pulitzer Prize winner and two-time Emmy nominee whose genre-defying scores include the Jordan Peele horror trio “Get Out,” “Us” and “Nope.”
Based on a hotly-received young-adult novel by author M.T. Anderson, the film from MGM, Plan B Entertainment and Annapurna Pictures is something of an eccentric mashup of the alien horror and teen romantic comedy genres with some family drama tossed into the mix. It’s the near future, and society has undergone an evolution on the scale of a Great Depression – but with a key twist. An alien race of crab-like mini monsters known as the Vuvv has taken control of the Earth. It’s all based on employment and finance. The Vuvv creatures have instituted a labor-saving technology that causes the planet’s job market and global economy to implode, so essentially everyone is subsisting below the poverty line. We see just how dire things are when a teacher who has just been replaced blows his brains out on the school lawn in front of his students and colleagues.
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In this morass of hopelessness, we meet Adam Campbell (Asante Blackk) and Chloe Marsh (Kylie Rogers). Adam thinks Chloe is cute after meeting her in school and invites her and her family to come live with his family, who is fortunate enough to have an actual home while Chloe and her father (Josh Hamilton) and brother (Michael Gandolfini) are living out of their car. Naturally, the Marshes jump at this offer to stay with Adam, his mother Beth (Haddish) and sister Natalie (Brooklynn MacKinzie). Lots of tension predictably ensues, particularly since the Marshes have no money and therefore have to live rent-free. But Chloe, enterprising soul that she is, decides what they need is a “courtship broadcast” in which she and Adam stream their pretend dating life for the entertainment of their extraterrestrial overlords (who for some reason are fascinated with human romance).
The more aliens who watch them, the more money they can make. But things on that front go south pretty quickly as well, and the teens rapidly grow to hate one another. But they’re stuck. If they split up, both of their families will be left penniless due to a threatened lawsuit. It’s all pretty insane, particularly when it leads to Beth’s subsequently being extorted into pretending to be the wife of a pushy Vuvv. The result is both uncomfortable and amusing, coupled with an encompassing allegory about race and class and the creep of authoritarianism into our lives.
The Vuvv seemingly have a 1950s-esque view of American society a la “Ozzie and Harriet,” stuck on a loop 60 years in the past. It’s an interesting conceit. Thankfully, the aliens are the opposite of big and menacing, and their squat appearance and sociopathic manner keeps things light and relatively scare-free.
Forgetting the relative merits of of “Landscape With Invisible Hand” for a moment, it’s worth seeing if for no other reason than it’s such unusual fare to find in a movie theater circa 2023 – particularly as a summertime release. We’re not used to a flick coming out in August that doesn’t have a heavy biographical tilt, or multiple explosions, or a collection of comic book characters. It’s a science fiction horse of a different color that doesn’t rely on visual effects to draw us in, though of course the aliens are clearly an ongoing effect. It works hard to be smart and funny rather than big and loud. Our hero’s greatest struggle is to make statements with his art, for cryin’ out loud.
Is this what it’s all going to come to for humankind? Is this what the government is hiding in Area 51? Should we scrape together every penny we can just in case the aliens come and think they’re doing us all a great big favor by instituting their advanced tech? It’s difficult to know any of this. And while “Landscape With Invisible Hand” doesn’t provide us with a viable roadmap for the future, and it doesn’t appear to be a serious Oscar contender, it’s an interesting enough way to spend 105 minutes while sitting in air conditioned comfort during the August heat wave.
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